


like a bird set free

by clexawarrior



Category: Runaways (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blind Character, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Mystery, Romance, basically gays falling for each other hard while trying to figure out what on earth is going on, blind!karolina
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-10
Updated: 2020-01-12
Packaged: 2020-02-29 14:22:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 93,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18780043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clexawarrior/pseuds/clexawarrior
Summary: Nico Minoru hasn’t been the same since her sister died last year.  She knows Amy’s death wasn’t an accident, and she’s determined to find out the truth about what happened that night. But when her quest for answers leads her to an intriguing girl with glowing skin, she realizes that bringing about justice for Amy won’t be as simple as she thought. And okay so maybe she understands now how Gert feels about Chase.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I haven't been writing fan fiction in a very long time, but Deanoru has stolen my heart, and now this fic has appeared. I'm really excited to be a part of the Deanoru fandom now and to create some content for everyone as we wait for season three to come out, so I really hope that you will enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoy writing it! I can't wait to hear what you guys think :)

When Nico Minoru got home from yet another tedious day at school, she flopped down on her bed almost immediately upon entering her room. She was exhausted, and it was only Wednesday of the third week of school. She still had two long days ahead of her before the weekend. The one good thing about this particular afternoon was that she had no homework. Or maybe it was a bad thing, depending on how she looked at it. Sure, she didn’t have to put effort into yet another thing she didn’t care about, but she also didn’t have anything to occupy her thoughts until bedtime, or at least until her parents got home. She had been hoping that her parents would’ve gotten off work early today, as they sometimes did, so she could spend her time with them instead, but no such luck had come her way.

Pulling out her laptop, she scrolled through Netflix, trying to find some movie to watch to distract herself, but she couldn’t find anything that looked remotely interesting. Grabbing a random book off her to-read shelf, she settled for that instead, losing her mind in the fantasy world of the story. At least she tried to. She found herself zoning out before she had even finished the first page. It was one of those days again, and she really needed some company. But her parents wouldn’t be home for another two or three hours, Chase had lacrosse practice, Molly had dance, Gert had a club meeting, and Alex…well, she hadn’t really spoken to Alex in a while.

With everything in her, Nico wished that Amy was there. That meant that Alex would most likely be over and the two of them would be playing video games whilst Nico sat on the couch and watched them, throwing in an insult about their playing skills every now and then to try and disguise the fact that she actually liked to watch them play. Or maybe Alex would be busy with AV club, so Nico would wander into Amy’s room and hang out with her while she did her homework or something. But Amy hadn’t been here for a long time. Almost a year, to be exact.

Nico shook her head, trying to shake away her thoughts. She knew she wasn’t supposed to be thinking about her sister. Doing so only ever proved to ruin her day, sending her into a fog of darkness that no one had any hope of bringing her out of. She needed to do better this school year, try harder and show up to all her classes.

She knew it was too late now, though. Once her mind had wandered to Amy, she usually spent the rest of her day blaming herself for what had happened and wishing she could do something to make it right. So, she did what she normally did when she wanted to block out her thoughts and the rest of the world with them. She hooked her phone up to her stereo, blasted her music at an insane volume, and began to clean.

Cleaning her room helped her mind feel more organized. As she sorted through the items on the floor, it felt as if she were sorting through her thoughts as well. She put all the things she didn’t want to think about into one folder that she could close and file away at the back of her mind.

By the time she had reorganized the books on her bookshelf and put everything away in its rightful place, only twenty minutes had passed. She groaned. That was what happened when she had too many bad days in a row. Her room didn’t have enough time to get messy again. Most people would see that as a good thing, but Nico didn’t because she knew that, this time, she would have to clean out her closet instead.

Before she even opened the closet door, she went into the kitchen to grab a trash bag, knowing that she would need it for whatever she would find inside. She hadn’t cleaned her closet out in a long, long time, but she needed something to do today. She was determined not to be left alone with her thoughts.

When she opened the door, she saw all the things that she had shoved inside the closet in the past several months, all the things she didn’t want to throw away but didn’t have anywhere else to put. Old school notes on lessons she had found interesting, her Wiccan books, and what was probably too many pairs of black boots, to name a few. She knew that she would have to get rid of at least half of the things piled on the floor, though, before it looked neat in there. On a normal day, she would’ve groaned at the thought of the time this task would take, but she found that she was kind of grateful for it today because it seemed like her ability to focus on anything else had disappeared.

After making a pile of the things she wanted to keep and throwing everything else out for the better part of an hour, Nico saw something in the back of her closet that she hadn’t thought about in months. She suddenly remembered why she had never dared to clean her closet out before. It was a shoebox. It looked ordinary enough, but she knew the thing inside of it was anything but ordinary. She cringed when she saw the old Christmas candy sitting on top of the box, and she tossed it into the trash bag before reaching for the shoebox and opening it to reveal the object inside.

A staff with a circular top that looked sort of like a miniature version of a quidditch hoop from _Harry Potter_. The Staff of One, Amy had called it. Apparently, it held some sort of magic abilities, but Nico had yet to see any. Amy had stolen it from the Church of Gibborim.

Nico had forgotten all about the Staff. Or rather, she had been trying her hardest to forget about it by throwing all of her focus into doing homework or studying for the tests she had in school, by spending as much time as she could with her friends or her parents. She couldn’t change the past, and she was trying her hardest to move on. Holding the Staff in front of her now, though, she felt all the memories from that night flying back to her full force.

_She sat up with a jolt as the door to her room opened, ready to scream until she realized it was only her sister. She looked over at the clock on her nightstand. 1:23 AM._

_"What the hell, Amy?” she groaned. “I’m not in the mood for one of your games right now.”_

_“This isn’t a game.” Amy practically shoved the object she was holding into Nico’s hands. “I stole this from the Church of Gibborim. It’s called the Staff of One.”_

_"Wait, you—”_

_“They already know I took it. It’ll be much safer with you,” Amy said in a rush, cutting Nico off. “I have to get to Alex’s house, so I’ll see you in the morning. Keep the Staff safe. It’s magic.”_

_And Amy was gone. Nico wondered if Amy wanted her to follow, if she had made up some grand new mystery for them to solve because she couldn’t sleep. Nico had been asleep, though; in fact, she was still trying to blink the sleep out of her eyes. She wasn’t in the mood to play games. Inspecting the object in her hands, Nico wondered where the hell Amy had even gotten it. Maybe she had been going through their mother’s antiques closet._

_Rolling her eyes at her sister’s antics, Nico threw the relic into a shoebox in her closet before climbing back into bed and pulling the covers over herself once more. She hoped she would be able to fall back asleep easily, annoyed that her sister had woken her up in the middle of the night when they both had school the next morning._

Well, Nico had school the next morning.

Amy never had to go to school again.

Nico couldn’t help but blame herself for being annoyed with her sister and ignoring her instead of trying to talk to her and stop her from going out in such a rush. If Nico would’ve taken her seriously, she could’ve stopped her from going to Alex’s house that night, kept her away from the roads and safe from the car that had killed her, the car that had surely been driven by someone from the Church of Gibborim trying to recover their stolen property. Amy had needed her help, and Nico had brushed it off like it was nothing. How could she not have seen that Amy was in trouble?

Not for the first time, Nico made her way to Amy’s room, leaving her closet and the Staff of One forgotten behind her. No matter how many times she searched the room, she always found herself trying again. She wouldn’t believe Amy hadn’t left some sort of clues indicating what she had been doing. Amy might’ve wanted to keep her search a secret while she was alive, but she had to have known the dangers of whatever she was doing, and there was no way that she wouldn’t have wanted someone else to know, someone who had a chance of doing something about it. Nico might not have taken the time to help Amy that night, but she could avenge her death now by bringing down her killer. If only she had more to go off of than a couple of sentences spoken to her at 1 AM.

Even though she already knew there was nothing to find, Nico searched the obvious places first, in the drawers, under the bed, and in the closet. Then, she moved onto the more difficult places, such as behind the dressers, nightstand, and the headboard of the bed.

She paused when she saw the multitude of wristbands that Amy had gotten solving escape rooms around Brentwood, remembering how quickly her sister had been able to work through the puzzles while Nico herself remained stumped, more often than not. She hadn’t set foot in an escape room since before Amy had died.

Shaking the thoughts away, she moved over to the air vent, pulling it off the wall and looking inside, but Amy was too smart for that. Nico knew that Amy was too smart for anyone and that the older girl’s secrets had most likely died with her. If Amy actually had hidden any clues as to what she’d been up to in here, Nico probably had no hope of ever finding them.

But that never stopped her from trying.

After searching for at least half an hour to no avail, Nico grabbed one of the hairbrushes off the vanity and forcefully threw it onto the bed, watching as it bounced off and onto the floor.  

Frustrated tears fell from her eyes as she slumped down against the vanity. When she’d had a bad day like this last week, she’d held in the tears, having spent the afternoon vigorously cleaning her room to keep herself from thinking about what she so desperately wished she could avoid. It felt good to finally let the tears fall, though. She was tired of holding them in.

She just wanted this day to be over so she could go back to forgetting tomorrow, forgetting her sister was gone and that she was too much of a failure to find any clues as to what Amy had been up to at the Church of Gibborim. Nico wanted nothing more than to find the person responsible for her sister’s death, but she had no idea how to even start when she didn’t know what Amy had seen that night, and Alex wouldn’t tell her anything.

Sighing in defeat, she let her head fall back against the leg of the vanity with a thump, and that’s when she heard it. A sound like that of a drawer springing open. For a moment, she allowed hope to blossom in her chest, but she quashed it immediately, preparing for disappointment. She had probably only knocked something off when she had hit it with her head.

She slowly turned around and gasped at what she saw. The middle drawer, the one that Nico had always assumed to be a fake, had popped open. Excitement fluttered through her as she looked closely at the piece of furniture behind her head. A tiny square of the white vanity was a tad darker than the rest of the material. A motion sensor. A motion sensor that had been slightly painted over to disguise it with the rest of the vanity. The paint layer was light enough that it could still register motion, but Nico knew that she probably had to have pressed up against it for it to have worked.

It was so very Amy. Even if anyone had noticed a slight difference in the paint before, the discrepancy probably hadn’t been given a second glance. Nico herself might have even noticed it before and written it off as nothing. If Amy had never wanted anyone to find whatever she had hidden in there, she had done a perfect job at hiding it.

Springing up from the floor, Nico hurried over to the drawer. Her shoulders slumped in disappointment when she saw that it was only a flashlight. The drawer had revealed what must have been her sister’s emergency flashlight. It made sense that she would have a flashlight if she had been sneaking out of the house at night. This must have been where she had hidden it.

Nico shook her head then. That couldn’t be it. Amy wanted to hide the fact that she had been sneaking out, yes, but she could’ve had a flashlight in her room for a variety of other reasons. Even if she had wanted to hide it, Nico knew her sister. A flashlight was something that Amy would’ve hidden in a shoebox in her closet, not in some secret, hidden-motion-sensor-activated drawer in her room. There had to be something more to it.

She grabbed the flashlight and inspected it closely, wondering if her sister had left some sort of secret message on it. But there was no writing of any kind on it at all. Then, she shook the flashlight, wondering if there was something hidden inside it. There wasn’t. That’s when Nico flipped it on to find that it wasn’t actually a flashlight at all.

It was a black light.

Something in this room had been written on in ink that could only be seen with a black light. Nico’s heart soared. Her sister had left a trail for her after all. Whatever Amy had started, she clearly wanted her sister to finish it or at least know about it. Nico knew that she would have to wait for it to be dark out before she could really use the black light, but she didn’t mind. She smiled the first genuine smile she had in a long time as she walked back into her room to finish cleaning out the rest of her closet. She had finally found something, and she couldn’t wait for dark.

 

* * *

           

Dinner was an awkward affair that night. Usually, Nico found herself filling her parents in on what had been going on with her that day, and they did the same. There weren’t any secrets in the Minoru household anymore, not after Amy’s death. They had all needed to be open and honest with one another to grieve for Amy together, and they’d all decided that talking to each other whenever they encountered a problem was better than trying to solve it on their own.

Her parents had implemented an honesty policy, and Nico had readily agreed to it, wishing that Amy had told her what she had been up to before it was too late. Nico felt that she couldn’t share her earlier discovery, though, so she didn’t really feel much like talking that night. Her parents picked up on her odd behavior, shooting each other worried looks throughout the meal, but thankfully they didn’t say anything.

Eventually, Nico excused herself under the pretense that she had a headache and wanted to go to bed early to sleep it off. She was also grateful that her parents didn’t point out the fact that it was only eight o’clock, and Nico didn’t usually go to bed until at least eleven.

They kissed her goodnight and allowed her to retreat into the confines of her room. She retrieved the black light from where she had stored it underneath her mattress, ready to hurry into Amy’s room and see what her sister had left for her, but she heard someone walking down the hall and cursed under her breath. She couldn’t risk her parents seeing her sneaking in and out of Amy’s room, so she resolved to wait until she was sure they had fallen asleep.

At midnight, Nico finally opened her door again, slipping out of her room with the black light and sneaking down the hall into her sister’s room. She hadn’t heard her parents go to bed yet, but she knew that it was safe to assume they had fallen asleep on the couch in the living room and probably wouldn’t be moving for another hour or two.

The first thing she did inside her sister’s room was shut the blinds that she had opened earlier, to block out the moonlight. Then, she turned on the black light, both eager and apprehensive to find out whatever her sister had been hiding in the last few months of her life. Why she had truly been killed.

Shining the beam around the room, Nico froze when the mirror lit up with whitish ink. There was writing on the mirror—notes—a long list of what appeared to be names. Upon closer inspection, Nico realized that they were members of the Church of Gibborim. She knew that Amy had been snooping around that place for a while before she had died, that it hadn’t all started that night, but she hadn’t had any definitive proof of that until now.

Each name on the mirror had an age written next to it and the date that each person had joined the Church. Nico stifled a gasp, not wanting to risk waking her parents up, when her eyes fell to what was written beneath each name on the list. The date each person had been reported missing. Each one of these people, all teens, had gone missing, most of them not long after they had joined, and she knew in her heart that they had probably never been found. Did that mean the Church was killing teenagers?

Quietly, Nico snuck back to her room to grab a notebook and pencil out of her backpack before heading back to Amy’s room and shutting the door behind her. She was going to write down each and every one of those names so that she could research them online later and look further into their cases herself. There were eleven names in total on the mirror, and it looked like these people had all gone missing around the same time of year.

As she finished writing down the last name, Nico looked over her own list one more time, making sure that it matched the list on the mirror. She knew this was why her sister had been killed, for knowing all this information. She just didn’t understand why it had mattered to Amy so much. Everyone had heard the rumors of families losing people to the Church, never seeing them again once they joined, but Nico had always thought that was because they had been brainwashed by the cult. She had never once thought to look into it or that the Church might have been committing secret murders. What had even gotten Amy interested in the Church in the first place, and why had it been so important to her to expose them?

She thought back to when Amy and Alex had been taking that online class about hacking a while ago. What if they’d tried hacking into the Church of Gibborim just to see if they could, and they found something that they couldn’t turn their backs on? Would Nico really be able to just ignore the fact that an organization was possibly killing a teenager every year if she had been in their position? Could she ignore it now that she herself had stumbled upon it?

Of course, she would research the information herself when she got back to her room; she had to make sure this wasn’t all some big misunderstanding. In her heart, though, she knew that it wasn’t. Amy was dead because of it. She must’ve stumbled upon something huge one night when she had snuck into the Church—because she had been sneaking in. The code to the Church’s alarm system was written in the bottom right corner of the mirror, along with the words, _Who is the glowing girl?_

Now, Nico was even more intrigued. There was a girl inside the Church that had glowing skin? Was she one of the kids on the list or someone else entirely? Clearly, that was something that Amy hadn’t had the time to figure out.

Nico wondered what the hell was going on inside that building. She couldn’t help but feel that she owed it to Amy to find out. Her sister had left her this information for a reason. Amy had wanted Nico to know about this, despite what Alex thought, and she didn’t know if Amy had left it for her because she thought Nico deserved to know the truth about what had happened to her or because she hoped that Nico would continue what she had started, but Nico knew what she was going to do with it. She could already feel that familiar excitement thrumming through her veins that she used to get when she and Amy would solve pretend mysteries as kids. There was no way she was going to be able to rest until she at least had a look around for herself, and that’s when she knew.

She was going to sneak into the Church of Gibborim.

           


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who read, commented on, or left kudos on this story already! I appreciate all of you <3

 

The next morning, Nico put on more makeup than usual and carried an even greater air of indifference around her parents as she ate breakfast. She would much rather them think she was broodier than usual this morning than know she was actually excited to get to school for once.

She couldn’t wait to share last night’s discovery with Chase. He was the one person she knew she could trust with information about Amy, and one of the only two people who knew that Amy had given Nico the Staff of One before she died.

Nico took her time getting out of the car that morning before she said goodbye to her dad, not wanting him to think that she was in any rush to walk the halls that she usually dreaded. Once his car was out of sight, though, she sped up and hurried through the doors and into the school.

Clutching the blue notebook that she had written in last night to her chest, she pushed past the people in the hallway and made her way to her locker. Only to find that Chase, whose locker was right next to Nico’s, wasn’t alone this morning. Gert and Molly were with him. Nico cursed internally. She had been afraid this would happen.

Her new mission: get Chase away from them.

If she told Gert what she had found, the other girl would want to tell everyone right then and there without even taking the chance to pursue the new lead at all. She’d claim that they already had enough proof that the Church was responsible for those kids’ disappearances, but Nico didn’t think they did. And she couldn’t tell Molly because Molly was only fourteen. Not to mention she was Gert’s sister and would probably end up telling Gert anyway.

Most of all, though, Nico just didn’t want to drag the two girls into something that she knew was dangerous. She cared about them too, and she couldn’t handle losing anyone else.

“Hey, Chase.” Nico grabbed a hold of his arm. “Can I talk to you for a moment?”

Chase’s smile immediately fell away, replaced with a look of concern. “Yeah, sure. Is everything all right?”

Nico shook her head with a glance at Gert and Molly. “Not here.”

“Right.” Chase nodded before giving the girls an apologetic smile and allowing Nico to pull him away.

“That’s right! Keep your secrets,” Gert shouted after them, but Nico ignored her. She knew that Gert was just jealous of Nico and Chase’s close friendship because she had a crush on Chase, and Nico didn’t have time for that right now. She quickly pulled Chase into the janitor’s closet and away from watchful eyes and eavesdropping ears.

Nico knew that people in the movies only spent time in janitor’s closets to make out—couples at her school did it too, for all she knew—but she and Chase had repurposed this particular closet into their own secret hideout since Amy had died. In the weeks following her sister’s death, Nico had found it hard to make it through a full day of school, so this closet had served as a safe haven for her, which Chase knew exactly when to pull her away to.

“All right, what’s this about?” Chase asked once the door had shut firmly behind them.

“I found something in Amy’s room yesterday.” Nico was unable to keep the smile from her face any longer.

Excitement sparked to life in Chase’s brown eyes at the news. “You found something? That’s amazing! We’ve searched that room so many times that I was starting to think…”

“I was too, but yesterday, I found out that the middle drawer of her vanity isn’t a fake at all. There was a black light in there, and it lights up secret writing on the mirror.”

“Were we right? Did she actually steal that creepy artifact from the Church of Gibborim?”

“She did, but it’s not what we thought. They’re not worshipping or trying to contact aliens or anything like that.” Nico opened her notebook to the list of names. “I copied this word for word from the mirror. These people all went missing from the Church, once a year around the same time.”

“And you think they’re all…dead?”

“That’s the thing. I spent hours researching these people online, and there were no reports of death or anything, not even from the people who disappeared around a decade ago. So, either the Church of Gibborim is really good at disposing of dead bodies—”

“Or they’re not really dead.” Chase finished Nico’s line of thought. “Then, what the hell happened to them? The police would know by now if they were still members of the Church. Are you sure aliens are totally out of the question?”

Nico pointed to the note at the bottom of the page. “Amy saw a girl with glowing skin inside the Church one night. What if the Church is experimenting on these kids?”

“Experimenting on them?” Chase gave Nico a look very similar to the one he had given her when she had gone through with his dare to eat a spoonful of mayonnaise. “They’re not scientists, Nico.”

“No, they’re a cult. Who knows what kind of messed up shit they believe in?”

A grin spread across Nico’s face as she thought about what she planned to do. “All I know is that I intend to find out. Tonight. You in?”

Instead of smiling back at her and eagerly accepting her offer, as Nico had expected him to do, Chase’s brow furrowed, and his frown deepened. “You’re going to break into the Church of Gibborim?”

“Well, it didn’t sound so crazy in my head.”

“It is crazy. Amy was killed for going after this stuff, don’t you get it? She saw something she wasn’t supposed to in that Church, and someone chased her down and hit her car with theirs.”

Nico was quiet for a long moment. She knew that Chase was right, but she also knew that she wouldn’t be able to rest until she found out more about what Amy had known. “You’d really be content pretending we never found anything and let this Church go on murdering innocent people?”

“Of course not.” Chase’s expression softened. “But this isn’t something that you have to do on your own. Take this stuff to the police and let them handle it.”

“I can’t do that.” Nico shook her head. “Not yet anyways. The cops might not find any more proof, and then what? I owe it to Amy to bring the Church of Gibborim down. If she was willing to risk her life to stop this, then so am I.”

Chase didn’t respond right away, and Nico worried for a moment that this might be it for them. The final straw. That this disagreement would break their friendship the way Amy’s death had broken hers and Alex’s. She hadn’t exactly had a good track record with best friends and big information. She knew it was different with Chase, though. She was closer to him than she was to any other friend she’d ever had.

“Okay,” he finally said, “I won’t try to stop you. I understand why this is important to you, and it’s your choice. But I’m not going with you either. I don’t want to end up in the same predicament as Amy.”

“Thank you, Chase.” Nico enveloped her friend in a hug. “I love you.”

Chase looked surprised as he pulled away. Nico wasn’t normally so forward with her feelings. Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment as she cleared her throat and looked away. “I just mean that I might not see you again, and I wanted you to know in case—”

“I know, Nico.” Chase nodded, cutting her off from her rambling. “Love you too.”

The warning bell rang, signifying that it was time to go to class, so the two friends made their way out of the janitor’s closet and back out into the hallway.

The first thing Nico noticed was Gert glaring at her, obviously having made up fictitious tales in her head about what Nico and Chase had been doing in the janitor’s closet. Sighing, Nico made a mental note to talk to Gert later about the nature of her friendship with Chase. Again.

What caught Nico’s gaze second was Alex on the other side of the hallway, watching her with a mixture of guilt and hurt in his eyes. She knew he still cared about her, but she found it hard to feel bad for him. He had brought this on himself after all.

Usually, Nico would ignore Alex if she caught him watching her and pretend that she hadn’t even seen him at all. Today, though, she marched right up to him.

“Nico,” was the only thing he could muster, eyes wide and mouth open in shock that she was suddenly speaking to him again.

“What was Amy doing at the Church of Gibborim?” It wasn’t the first time she had ever asked, but it was the first time in a long time.

“I already told you. I don’t know,” Alex said with the same exasperated sigh that he always gave when she asked him about it.

“I _know_ you do. She was going to your house that night for a reason. She found out about something huge. What was it?” It was the same thing she said to him every time, more or less.

“She never made it to my house, Nico. I don’t know any more than you do.” It was the same thing he said back to her every time, more or less. Like a script they had both memorized.

“You and I both know that was never true. But maybe it is now.”

“What do you mean?”

“I _mean_ that I found secret notes in Amy’s room. I know all about the glowing girl and the teens who went missing from the Church every year. So, tell me. Why was this shit so important to you?”

Alex stared at her for a long moment, and equal parts of her thought that he was finally going to tell her something and that he might not give her an answer at all. When he spoke, though, he did neither of those things. “You’re right. I’ve been lying to you. Amy and I were gathering information on the Church of Gibborim together. But it’s more than that, Nico. Everything I never told you was for your own protection. Amy never wanted you to get involved with this stuff, and it’s my job now to make sure that you never do.”

“Never _wanted,_ Alex. She’s gone now, and clearly she changed her mind that night, or she never would’ve given me that Staff thing at all.”

“I’m sorry, Nico, but I care about you. And I don’t want you to end up like her.”

Before Nico could even respond, Alex pushed past her and headed down the quickly emptying hallway to his first period class. She groaned in frustration, trying with everything in her not to let it escalate into a scream.

“You okay?” a voice asked from behind her.

He had witnessed the whole thing, no doubt. She would’ve been embarrassed if it was anyone else, but it was only Chase, so she shook her head, quickly wiping away a tear the minute it left her eye.

“What a douchebag,” Chase commented as he pulled Nico into a hug. “Amy’s your sister. You deserve to know the truth.”

She nodded numbly into his shoulder, holding onto him tightly.

“Wanna skip first period and hang out in the janitor’s closet?” Chase suggested knowingly.

She did. She really did, but she had been trying her best to show up to all her classes this semester. New school year, new Nico, right? She had only skipped out on one class so far, and she was proud of herself.

Plus, she didn’t want Gert freezing her out any more than she probably already would be for this morning’s stunt. Nico knew that Gert had first period with Chase, and the purple-haired girl would most definitely notice his absence.

Nico tried her best to collect herself as she pulled back from the hug. “I’ll be okay. We’re supposed to actually be going to our classes this year, remember?”

“Yeah.” Chase chuckled. “I remember.”

“I’ll see you in third,” Nico said as she walked down the hall to her classroom right as the final bell rang.

“See ya,” Chase called after her.

Late was better than not showing up at all, right?

 

* * *

       

That evening, Nico called Gert and explained to her that she and Chase hadn’t been making out in the janitor’s closet, that she and Chase were just friends and that he was all Gert’s for all Nico cared, but she knew that Gert didn’t believe her. She sighed. She and Gert had been friends long before Gert had developed this stupid crush, and it was frustrating that the other girl was letting it get in the way of their friendship.

“For the last time, Chase is literally like a brother to me.” Nico rolled her eyes, even though she knew Gert couldn’t see her. “We’re just friends. Everyone knows we’re just friends. Ask…never mind.”

Gert sighed, clearly sensing what Nico had been about to say, and Nico hoped that they could finally move out of the circle this conversation had been going around in for the last five minutes. When Gert spoke again, she sounded less upset. “You’re right. I know. I just…sometimes it feels like he doesn’t even notice me because he’s so busy with you.”

“Of course, he notices you. He was talking to you this morning before I pulled him away.”

“Why did you pull him away, Nico?” A bit of skepticism returned to Gert’s voice. “What was so important that you had to pull him into the janitor’s closet?”

“It was about Amy, and after the way he reacted, I don’t think I need to tell anyone else.”

“Whatever it is, you can always talk to me about it.”

Nico marveled at how soft Gert’s voice had become; the girl on the other end of the line now sounded nothing like the angry and accusing one that had been there only minutes ago. That was just Gert, though. She was extremely easy to offend, and she always had been.

Contemplating how to respond, Nico was silent for several moments. She could lie, but Gert was her friend, and she deserved some kind of explanation for Nico’s urgent mood this morning.

“Let’s just say that I no longer think Amy’s death was an accident.” She never actually had, but that was beside the point.

“What?! That’s huge! What makes you think that?” Nico could picture Gert’s eyes bugging out of her head as she spoke.

“I found something in her room, and I’ll tell you more when I know more, okay? I don’t really want to talk about Amy right now. Can we go back to the original topic of conversation? You have a crush on Chase, so _ask him out._ If you want him so badly, then do something about it.”

“I can’t, Nico. You know that.” Gert’s voice suddenly sounded small. “What if he doesn’t like me back?”

“Then, he doesn’t, but at least you know that. And if he does, then you two can finally be together, and he can stop unknowingly driving a wedge between the two of us.

“I do like the sound of that,” Gert admitted. “I’ll try.”

Nico supposed that Gert agreeing to try to muster up the courage to do something about her crush on Chase was much better than the flat-out refusals she had received when she’d previously suggested something of the sort. She was mainly just relieved, though, that Gert had dropped the topic of Amy. If she had kept pressing and Nico had admitted anything specific to her, there was a big chance Gert would ruin Nico’s plans for the night, and she couldn’t have that.

She was going to get into that Church, even if it killed her.

 

* * *

 

Dinner passed even slower that night than it had the night before. It was imperative that Nico not raise any suspicions for fear that her parents might catch her sneaking out if she did. She couldn’t use the lame excuse that she wasn’t feeling well again. No, tonight she had to pretend that nothing was amiss and that she wasn’t eager for night to fall so that she could break into the Church of Gibborim and find out what they were doing to all those missing kids.

She patiently waited while her parents talked about what they had done at work that day, and she told them about school. Even though there wasn’t much to talk about, Nico made sure to find something that she would’ve normally found interesting enough to share. Usually, she was grateful for the easy line of communication with her parents, but not tonight.

“It’s nice to see that you’re feeling better tonight,” Tina Minoru commented once Nico had finished talking about her day.

“You barely said a word during dinner yesterday,” Robert added.

“I told you, I had a headache,” Nico said, not unkindly but not leaving much room for argument either.

Her parents shared a look before raising their eyebrows at her knowingly, so in sync that Nico found it slightly unnerving. They had seen right through her act yesterday. She was going to have to give them something if she ever wanted to slip out of the house tonight without detection.

“I couldn’t stop thinking about Amy yesterday,” Nico admitted truthfully. “I was lonely when I got home from school, and I really missed her.”

Nico held back a sigh of relief as she watched the knowing looks on her parents’ faces turn to looks of sympathy. She was in the clear for now.

“I’m sorry, Nico,” Tina said. “I think we all have days like that from time to time.”

“Do you ever think that maybe Amy’s death wasn’t an accident?” Nico blurted out before she had time to think about it. She had no idea what possessed her to say it. Maybe she had seen the look of pain in her mother’s eyes and thought that her parents also deserved to know the truth.

Seeing the look of confusion in her mother’s eyes now, though, Nico wished that she could pull the words back in and swallow them. She didn’t even know the truth herself. Not really.

Not yet.

“Of course, it wasn’t,” her dad spoke up, saving Nico from having to explain herself. “The person who hit her had been deliberately drinking.”

“We don’t know that, Dad.” The cops had said that it looked like the accident had been a result of drunk driving, but Nico had never believed that.

“Honey, what’s bringing this on all of the sudden?” Tina asked. “Do you know something about what happened that night?”

“No, of course not,” Nico said, “I just wonder why they never found the driver. I want to know who it was…and why…”

Nico couldn’t bring herself to say it.

Even though she had a general idea of who had killed Amy, she still didn’t know why. So maybe her trip tonight wasn’t about revenge or justice or curiosity about what had happened to those kids at all. Maybe she just wanted answers. Maybe she just wanted to know what was so important to that Church that her sister had to die.

 

* * *

 

Once she was sure that her parents were asleep, Nico tossed her notebook, flashlight, and the black light into her black backpack and slung it over her shoulder. She was wearing black from head to toe, perfect for the break-in she was about to commit. She turned towards the window, steeling herself to go through with her plan.

Nerves getting the better of her, she grabbed a pen off her nightstand and quickly inked the 4-digit code to the security system on the back of her left hand. She already had it memorized, but she didn’t want to chance freezing up in the moment and forgetting which buttons to push.

She scanned her room one more time, looking for anything else that she might need, but she knew there was nothing. All she wanted was answers, and she didn’t need anything but herself and the code on the back of her hand to get them.

The cool outside air hit Nico’s face as she shoved her window open. This was it. The moment to climb out the window and head to the Church or climb back into bed.

She considered following Chase’s logic and staying safe and in the dark, but only for a second. The next second, she removed the screen from her window and climbed outside.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We finally get to meet Karolina in this chapter, which you've probably all been waiting for, so I hope I don't disappoint! Please feel free to leave a comment or come talk to me on tumblr @clexawarrior about this story or Runaways in general :)

When Nico finally stood outside of the Church of Gibborim, after about a twenty-minute walk, she started to second guess herself again. The place was huge. Who knew how many people would come running if she couldn’t get the alarm to turn off? What if there had been some sort of new security system installed since Amy had died? What if the Gibs had changed the alarm passcode? Nico didn’t even know if that was possible, but she worried about it, nonetheless.

If she was caught inside the Church, would she be killed like Amy had been? Would she be used in the experiments?

All she knew was that she needed to make a decision. Now.

She gave herself three seconds.

One.

Maybe she should back out.

Two.

She needed answers.

Three.

She was going inside.

After sneaking around the entire perimeter of the Church, she saw that there were only four ways inside: the front, the back, and what looked to be some sorts of emergency exits on the sides of the building. She couldn’t go in the emergency exits because there wouldn’t be an alarm keypad by those doors, and she couldn’t risk the alarm going off for too long. She also didn’t want to go right in the front entrance, in case they had security cameras watching. She knew that they could have security cameras in the back of the building too, but it was less likely, and she knew that this was the way Amy would’ve chosen.

Despite her sister’s best efforts to teach her, Nico had never been able to pick a lock. She would have to break the lock instead. Luckily, she had prepared for this and had grabbed a big rock during her trip around the building.

Pulling both arms up over her head, rock in hand, she brought it down hard against the doorknob. She was slightly discouraged when it didn’t break right off. She couldn’t give up now, though. The doorknob finally fell to the ground after four or five attempts, and she pushed the door open, smiling in satisfaction when it worked.

The warning beeps of the alarm sounded loudly throughout the room, prompting Nico into action. She quickly grabbed her flashlight and hurried into the building, shining the beam around in search of the alarm system. There it was, on the wall to the left of the middle door.

Nico raced over to it and punched 8-4-1-3. The beeping ceased, and she let out a disbelieving laugh. She was in.

A sense of uneasiness settled in the pit of Nico’s stomach when the sound of her laugh echoed around the large and empty space. The sight of all those empty seats, devoid of congregation, gave the place an eerie feel that Nico was sure it didn’t have during the daytime. Like she had stumbled upon some long-abandoned worship space. Then again, the place probably felt just as eerie when all the members of the cult were present and partaking in whatever weird ceremonies they held in this place.

She started to cross the public congregation space, knowing she wasn’t going to find her answers there. She needed to get upstairs and go down one of the hallways that she could see from the ground floor, hallways that she was sure housed offices where she would find her answers.

Moving at a brusque pace, she walked towards the staircase closest to her and began to climb the stairs. She wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible, but she knew that she needed to take her time tonight. She couldn’t break the lock again every night. This was her only chance to find the answers she so desperately sought.

When she was halfway up the second flight of stairs, she heard something that sent dread through her entire being. A voice from above called, “Hello? Who’s in here?”

It sounded like a girl, and Nico thought for a moment that she was safe. Then, she saw the glow that illuminated the second floor as the girl presumably moved out of the hallway. Was this the girl that Amy had written about on the mirror?

Nico crouched low to the stairs and flipped off her flashlight. Odds were, the girl had already seen it, but that didn’t stop Nico from trying anyway. She was hoping the girl would think it was nothing and go back to wherever it was she came from.

The girl didn’t come any closer, as if she was waiting for a response, but Nico didn’t intend to give her one. Slowly, she began to back down the staircase. If she could just get off the stairs, then she could run back out the door and into the city beyond.

Brentwood. She had grown up in that city, and she knew it like the back of her hand. The glowing girl would have no chance of finding Nico if she could just get off this staircase.

Ironically, that was the thought that was going through Nico’s mind when she accidentally missed a step and went tumbling down to the landing with a crash. It wasn’t a long fall, four or five stairs maybe, but it was enough to make Nico grunt in pain and enough for the girl to know exactly where she was.

Nico groaned as she looked up to see a shining figure hovering above her, glowing skin clearly not the only unearthly thing about this girl. Nico’s first thought upon seeing her wasn’t one of fear or distress, though. Her first thought was that the girl above her was gorgeous. Her skin shimmered in a mix of pinks and blues and purples; it looked as if the stars themselves were woven into her skin. The girl in front of her now was nothing like the one she had been picturing since reading Amy’s notes.

“You’re beautiful.”

The words spilled out of Nico’s mouth before she could really process them, and she blushed. She couldn’t go all soft and mushy now because this girl’s skin was pretty. She refused to let this girl destroy her like a siren while she just sat there like a lovestruck sailor. Silently blaming her previous words on her shock from falling, she hastily got to her feet.

“Um, thanks,” the girl said, looking shyly at the ground as she landed in front of Nico. She clearly wasn’t used to getting compliments, despite being one of the prettiest people that Nico had ever seen. Nico mentally chided herself the minute the thought crossed her mind. Damn this girl and her stupid glow.

“What are you doing here?” the girl asked after a few moments of silence.

“I’m not answering that until you tell me what the hell you are,” Nico said.

“If you’re referencing my ability to fly, that’s a gift. It doesn’t make me any less human.” The girl crossed her arms over her chest, lifting her gaze from the ground, and Nico might have noticed that her eyes looked unfocused if she wasn’t so annoyed by the girl’s tone.

“Oh okay.” Nico scoffed. “And neither does your glowing skin.”

“What do you mean, my glowing skin?” The girl’s nose scrunched up in confusion.

“Wait a second. You can’t see, can you?” Nico realized. She didn’t know if it was rude to ask such a question outright, but she was never going to get anywhere in convincing this girl of her glowing skin if she didn’t ask.

“Well, no, but I—”

“Your skin is glowing. I’m looking right at it.”

“Why should I trust you?” The girl huffed. “I don’t even know you, and you literally just broke in here.”

Nico knew she shouldn’t still be standing here. She had already been found out, and this girl was blind. She could easily get away. But she found she didn’t want to. She had known the risks of breaking into the Church before she had done it. Besides, this girl was the perfect person to ask about possible experiments going on in the Church. She was clearly the result of multiple experiments herself. Nico couldn’t help but feel bad for her. What kind of people kidnapped and experimented on a blind girl?

“The Church clearly did something to you,” Nico said. “An experiment or something. Where are the rest of the kids in here? Can you show me?”

“What do you mean?” The girl looked more confused now than ever.

Nico pulled out her notebook and looked over the list of names in the light from the girl’s skin. “What is your name, and when did you join the Church of Gibborim?”

“My _name_ is Karolina Dean.” The girl sounded annoyed again as Nico scanned the list of names. No Karolina. “And the Church didn’t take me in. I’ve always been a part of it because my mother, Leslie Dean, is the head of it. There’s no one else in here, and the only reason I’m here is to make sure that we don’t have intruders like you. I’m alerting my mother.”

Leslie Dean. Nico would’ve never been able to remember it if Karolina hadn’t spoken it aloud, but now she did. She’d heard it multiple times when she and her classmates had to listen to Gibborim guest speakers talk at school.

Karolina raised her hand to her temple to alert her mother (telepathically?) of Nico’s presence in the Church, and Nico knew she needed to stop her.

“Your mother,” she said. “Does she have powers too?”

“I don’t know if she glows like me, although I’m still not sure I believe that I do,” Karolina said, her hand pausing uncertainly, “but I can speak to her in my mind, so yes she does.”

“Please don’t tell her I’m here.” Nico knew that she could be long gone before this Leslie showed up, but she couldn’t leave yet. She hadn’t discovered anything about Amy. Surprisingly, she found that she wanted to know more about Karolina too. Had her mother really never told her where they had gotten their powers from?

“Why would I do that?” Karolina asked. “You broke in here, and unless you have a really good reason, my mom needs to know.”

“No, please. My name is Nico, and I’m here because of my sister. She died in a car crash last year, and I only recently found out that she was interested in the Church. I just want to know what it’s about. I know it was important to her.”

“Was she a member?”

“I don’t think so.” Nico couldn’t tell this girl she thought the Church had killed Amy. That would ruin any chance she had of persuading Karolina not to call her mother. “But I never knew she was even interested in it. And now she’s gone, and…I just want another little piece of her, you know? Can you tell me about it?”

Karolina looked conflicted, like she might actually be about to give in. Nico knew that she had sounded choked up as she said that last part because it was true in a way, and she supposed that Karolina might feel bad for her. She normally hated when people pitied her, but if it was going to get her some sort of answers tonight, then Karolina could pity Nico all she wanted.

“Fine. Let’s go to my room.”

Nico’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. She hadn’t been expecting an invitation to the other girl’s room, but she eagerly accepted. The more time she got in this building tonight, the better.

She followed the glowing girl down a hallway as she explained that Gibborim was about finding your inner light and worshipping metaphorical beings of light or something like that. Nico thought that the beings of light sounded a lot like Karolina herself, but she kept her mouth shut and kept half-listening.

As they walked, she hoped that they would pass Leslie’s office or some other place that screamed answers to why Amy was killed, but there was nothing. Nondescript closed doors and paintings lined the walls, but she didn’t see an office or any secret chambers at all. Maybe it had been stupid of her to come here. Maybe there were no more answers left to be found.

Toward the end of the hallway, Karolina pushed a door open, and Nico followed her inside. Despite her discouragement, Nico couldn’t help but be amazed at how easily Karolina moved through this place without any sort of guide or anything. Nico never would’ve been able to tell she was blind at all if not for her eyes.

Upon entering, Karolina completely disregarded the light switch on the wall by the door, but Nico flipped it on, wanting to see the room under better lighting than Karolina’s vibrant glow. The artificial light that flooded the room was a stark contrast to the light cast by Karolina’s skin. Nico was tempted to turn it back off again and just watch the ethereal light emanate from the pretty girl’s skin for the rest of the night, but she didn’t. That wasn’t the reason she had come here.

There wasn’t much to look at in Karolina’s room, and Nico felt her disappointment grow. A queen-size bed sat in the center of the room, a desk against the wall that held the door, and a tall white dresser and small bookcase lined the far wall. Nico sighed as she flopped into the desk chair while Karolina stood beside the bed. Nothing in here was going to tell her anything about Amy. Chase had been right. She shouldn’t have even come.

“Does that make sense? Was that helpful?” Karolina asked, finally coming to the end of her spiel about her religion and pulling Nico out of her thoughts.

“Yes, thank you. I really appreciate it.” Of course, Nico didn’t care at all about Gibborim. She hadn’t even been paying attention to Karolina since she had started talking about it. But Karolina had been helpful to her in letting her stay and not alerting Leslie, so Nico didn’t want to hurt her feelings.

“Do you think you might be interested in converting?” Karolina’s voice sounded almost hopeful.

“Nah, I…I don’t really do religion.” Nico tried to keep the guilt out of her voice as she responded, not wanting to offend Karolina in some way.

“Okay.”

An awkward silence spread between them after that, and Nico began to regret her acceptance of Karolina’s invitation to her room. She wondered if Karolina was starting to regret offering. This whole trip had been a bust, and she was not looking forward to Chase’s inevitable _I told you so_ speech in the morning. At least it hadn’t been as dangerous as he’d thought.

She grabbed a bracelet from the desk and fiddled with it. “I didn’t know you guys took these off.”

“Are you talking about our bracelets?” Karolina asked for clarification.

Nico nodded before realizing that nodding was a useless form of communication with Karolina.

“Yeah, your bracelets.”

“We’re not supposed to, but my mom told me it’s okay at night. I can’t fly when I’m wearing it.”

“So you’re telling me this bracelet acts as a sort of inhibitor for your powers?” Nico asked, intrigued.

“Yeah. My mom built some sort of special technology into it to block my powers. That way, I don’t accidentally fly in front of anybody or anything like that.”

Nico was sure that Karolina accidentally flying in front of people was the least of Leslie’s worries when she had designed the bracelet. She was certain the bracelet’s purpose was more to keep Karolina’s glow off than anything else. There was no way that Karolina and Leslie actually glowed in front of people if Nico hadn’t heard about it by now.

“Will you put it on for me?” Nico asked, wanting to test her theory.

Karolina looked uncertain. “I don’t know, Nico. Without my powers, how will I defend myself if anything happens?”

“Just for a few seconds.” Nico tried again, even though she was sure she was going to get shot down. “I’m not going to hurt you. Trust me.”

To Nico’s surprise, Karolina held out her hand for the bracelet, and Nico walked the short distance to drop it into her waiting palm. The minute Karolina fastened it around her wrist, her lights died, and she faded to the color of a regular human being.

Nico wanted to say something, anything, but her mouth was dry, and she couldn’t think of the words. Karolina was beautiful, even without her lights display, and Nico was standing right in front of her, so close. Blond hair. Blue eyes, the color of the ocean. Gorgeous.

As Nico’s eyes dropped down to Karolina’s lips, she wondered what it would be like to kiss her. She wondered if this was what Gert felt like every time she looked at Chase.

“Will you come back tomorrow night?” Karolina asked, drawing Nico out of her haze.

Taking a step back, Nico was extremely grateful Karolina hadn’t been able to see any of the emotions that had surely crossed her face in the past several seconds. There was no telling what she would’ve done had Karolina not broken the one-sided moment. What had Nico been thinking? Would she really have kissed Karolina, whose mother had surely killed her sister?

Then, she registered what Karolina had said. For some reason, the blonde wanted her to come back. For a reason that had nothing to do with Amy, Nico actually wanted to. Which was exactly why she couldn’t.

“I can’t. I already broke the doorknob off one of the back doors. Your mom will be on high alert now.”

“I won’t tell her I saw you. And I’ll leave the door unlocked for you so you won’t have to break in again.”

“Why the hell would you do that?” Nico asked. “Like you said before, you don’t even know me, and I broke into your Church. You’ve been kind enough to me already. I should go.”

“I actually liked talking to you tonight, Nico. There’s not many people my age here in the Church of Gibborim. Besides, you know about my powers. Most people would’ve freaked out. But you didn’t.”

“No, I didn’t.” Nico wanted to tell Karolina that she had already known about her powers, but she couldn’t, not without revealing the truth and losing the trust that she had just gained.

“It’s nice to be able to spend time with someone like this,” Karolina said quietly, “and I don’t want it to end after tonight.”

It was a bad idea. Nico knew this. Amy had been killed for snooping around this place, and now she was thinking about sneaking in to meet with the daughter of Amy’s murderer? It was stupid and reckless, and Nico knew that she should want to turn down the offer and never come back. But she couldn’t. Maybe it was because she hadn’t gotten any answers yet about what had happened to Amy. Maybe it was because of the inexplicable pull that she had felt to Karolina the moment she met her. Maybe it was because Karolina was the first new person she had enjoyed talking to since she’d become friends with Gert in sixth grade. The only thing she knew for sure was that her time at the Church of Gibborim was not over.

“Okay, Karolina. I’ll be there.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this week's chapter is almost twice the length of a regular chapter! I was originally going to split it in two, but I felt like it fit better as one chapter since it all takes place in the same day. Sorry for the slightly longer wait this time. I'm trying to get out a new chapter at least once a week, and I've just barely managed it this time, but I hope this chapter is worth the wait. Enjoy!

As Karolina pulled her hair up into a ponytail the next morning, she heard a knock at the door. “Karolina? Can I come in?”

Karolina felt for her clock on her nightstand, hitting the button that she knew would read out the time to her. 7:30 AM. It was almost time for the morning service.

“Yeah, Mom,” Karolina called.

She heard the sound of her door opening and the sound of footsteps as her mother entered her room and shut the door. Karolina turned from where she sat on her bed to face her mother. She sighed, doing her best to sound annoyed and not anxious about the fact that she had known someone had been here last night, and she hadn’t told her mom. “I’m almost ready, Mom. I just have to get something to eat, and I’ll be right there.”

“This isn’t about Service, Karolina,” Leslie said. “I’ve actually cancelled the service for this morning.”

“Why would you do that?” Karolina tried her best to sound surprised.

“Someone broke the lock on one of the back doors last night.” Leslie sounded upset, probably at the prospect that her daughter could’ve been hurt. “Did you not hear anyone in the Church?”

“You know, I did think that I heard the alarm last night,” Karolina said, afraid that her mother might get suspicious if she pretended she’d heard nothing. “But I didn’t hear anyone when I went to check it out, so I thought I must’ve imagined it.”

“Why didn’t you notify me?” Leslie asked, and Karolina felt guilty when she heard the hurt in her mother’s voice.

“Because I didn’t think anyone was down there, and I didn’t want to wake you up for nothing. I sat in that hallway for about fifteen minutes, and I didn’t hear a single thing. If that person had moved even an inch, you know I would’ve heard them. I thought it was just a fluke with the alarm system or a part of my dream or something.”

Her mother sighed, placing a hand on her shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze. “I’m just happy you weren’t hurt.”

“Of course, I wasn’t,” Karolina said reassuringly. “It was probably some stupid kid playing around like last time.”

“Yes, probably,” Leslie answered, and Karolina stiffened at the troubled sound of her voice, like she didn’t quite believe Karolina. Had Leslie been expecting someone else to break in? Was there someone dangerous out there who had reason to come after the Church?

Karolina shook the thoughts off as quickly as they had come, though. If her mother suspected that someone dangerous might try breaking into the Church, then there was no way that she would allow Karolina to continue staying there. She would insist that Karolina come home immediately, no matter what.

When she spoke again, all traces of worry were gone, replaced by warmth. “Do you want to stay at home for a few days? I know how shaken up you were the last time that someone broke in here.”

For a split second, Karolina wondered if she should accept her mother’s offer. Regardless of the cause of it, she hadn’t imagined the worry that had been present in her mother’s voice moments ago. She would be lying if she said she wasn’t a bit scared of its possible causes, and she certainly didn’t want to be alone tonight.

That was when she remembered that she wouldn’t be alone tonight; Nico was coming back. Or at least she had said she would. If that was true, then Karolina needed to be here. She couldn’t risk missing this meeting with Nico. Otherwise, she might never see the other girl again.

Something about Nico made her feel safe. Nico had seen Karolina flying and apparently glowing and hadn’t seemed fazed at all. Karolina knew that most people would’ve ran in the other direction at the sight of her, but Nico hadn’t. Karolina thought that was one of the main reasons why she had liked the other girl so much.

“I’ll be fine, Mom,” she assured her mother. “I prefer to stay in the Church now, you know that. I can look after myself.”

It was true. She knew the layout of the Church so well by now that she could stay there by herself, and her mother trusted her. She enjoyed the tiny bit of freedom, and it always made her happy to know that she could be self-sufficient despite the fact that she couldn’t see.

“I know you can,” Leslie said immediately, “but how about I stay here with you tonight? We haven’t had a night in together in a while. As I recall, you wanted a rematch at Monopoly.”

Karolina’s heart sank in dismay. She didn’t want her mom to feel like she didn’t want to spend time with her, but she also needed to be able to meet with Nico. She was silent for a moment to gather her thoughts before she responded. “I definitely do. I’d love to have a just us night. But once I go to sleep, you can go back home. I don’t need you to stay here and watch me the whole time.”

“Are you sure, honey? I don’t want you getting hurt.” Ironically, Leslie was the one who sounded hurt.

Karolina rolled her eyes, trying her best to mask her internal dilemma. “Mom, I can fly.”

“Flight won’t protect you from bullet wounds, Karolina.”

“And if the person who was in here was actually dangerous and had a gun, then I would already be dead by now.”

“Okay, but you will notify me if anything like this happens again. I don’t care if you find anyone or not. You will let me know.” Leslie’s caring voice turned stern, and Karolina knew that she had hurt her mother’s feelings. Whenever she got that cold tone to her voice, that meant that Karolina had pushed her too far. The blonde felt incredibly guilty, but she wasn’t going to give in this time. Seeing what would happen tonight with Nico was way too important to her, even if she wasn’t quite sure why.

“Okay, Mom. I promise I’ll let you know if anything happens.”

“Thank you.” Leslie moved her hand from where it still rested on Karolina’s shoulder, giving her a quick hug and a kiss on top of the head. “Now, you go grab something to eat, and I’ll join you after I get someone down here to fix the door.”

Karolina nodded, and then she heard the sound of the door opening and her mother’s footsteps retreating down the hall. Leslie had left the door open for her, but she didn’t follow right away. Instead, she let a relieved smile spread across her face. Yes, she felt guilty that she had hurt her mom’s feelings when Leslie had only wanted to spend more time with her, but the relief she felt at knowing her mom bought her lies outweighed her regret. She didn’t want her mom to know about Nico. Right now, Nico’s existence was for Karolina to know about and Karolina alone.

With a small smile on her face at the thought of the girl she had met the previous night, Karolina pushed herself off her bed. She didn’t want her mom to get to the kitchen area before her and get worried, or worse, suspicious, when she found that Karolina wasn’t there.

She walked to the doorway, running a hand along the doorframe to get her bearings as she passed through. To anyone else, she knew it probably looked like a casual touch as she walked out the door. To her, it was her insurance that she wasn’t about to run into the wall. She turned right and headed down the hallway to the top of the stairs. An exact 56 steps.

Grabbing for the railing, she walked down the flight of stairs and down the hallway to the right. 32 more steps and another right, and she would be at the kitchen and dining area where the Church held celebrations and meals together. This was her favorite thing about staying here in the Church of Gibborim. She had no problem whatsoever getting around.

 

* * *

 

Nico raced into school the next morning, excited to walk down these halls for the second day in a row. She had tried to keep her excitement in around her parents, but it had been next to impossible this morning. Her dad had caught her smiling in the car, and she had lied and claimed that she had been thinking about something funny that Chase had said yesterday. But that hadn’t been it.

She had been thinking about Karolina.

Truthfully, she hadn’t really stopped thinking about Karolina since her encounter with the girl the previous night. She was beautiful, and her powers were amazing. Not to mention, she had been kind to Nico when she really had no reason to be. She was intriguing, and Nico wanted to find out more about her as much as she wanted information on Amy. It was a weird feeling. Amy had been her number one priority for so long that she had started to forget what caring about anything else felt like.

This time, when Nico got to her locker, she was relieved to find that Chase was alone. She barely had time to drop her backpack to the ground beside him, though, before he was pulling her into a big hug.

“You made it,” he said over her shoulder.

“Of course, I did,” Nico said reassuringly.

Looking back on it, she supposed she should’ve sent him a text when she had gotten home last night, but he had honestly been the last thing on her mind.

He pulled back to look her over, probably for any signs that she had gotten into any trouble, so she let him. After a few moments, he gave her a satisfied nod. “Did you find anything?”

“I saw her,” Nico said immediately, unable to keep it in any longer. “The glowing girl that Amy wrote about on the mirror.”

Chase’s eyes widened in excitement. “Did you talk to her? Did she tell you about the experiments or whatever?”

“They’re not doing experiments, Chase. That’s not it at all.” Nico shook her head. “This girl is the daughter of Leslie Dean, the head of the Church, and these powers or whatever? Her mother has them too. They’re not the result of some experiment. I think she was born with them.”

“Wait, powers?” Chase asked, his brows furrowing in confusion. “What else can they do?”

“Well, I saw this girl fly, and she can also apparently talk to her mother in her mind.”

“So the Church is being led by some kind of…supernatural being?”

“I don’t know, Chase, but I’m gonna find out.”

“You’re going back there?!” Nico could see the dismay in his brown eyes.

She nodded. “Tonight.”

“You can’t do that. You just broke in last night, and I’m guessing you didn’t pick the lock. It’s far too risky.”

“No, I broke the lock, but it doesn’t matter.” Nico shrugged. “Karolina is leaving the door unlocked for me.”

“Karolina?”

“The glowing girl. That’s her name.”

Chase threw his hands up in the air. “Right, because that doesn’t sound like a trap. You’re just going to trust that she won’t have her mom in there waiting for you?”

“She won’t,” Nico said, sure of herself, even though she knew she shouldn’t be. It wasn’t like the thought hadn’t crossed her mind. “I have no reason not to trust her. She was the one who asked me to come back. She’s _lonely_. She just wants a friend, and if she’ll help us find out more about Amy, then it’s a risk I’m willing to take.”

“So you’re just going to play her?” Chase asked. “Use her for information only to leave her alone again once you find it? You know that’s not right.”

“Who said anything about leaving her alone again?” Nico could feel a blush rising on her cheeks as she said it. She hoped that Chase would attribute the redness to the heat of too many bodies in one hallway, but she should’ve known better.

“You’re not just going back there tonight because of Amy. You _like_ Karolina Dean.”

“I do not like Karolina,” Nico protested, but she knew her efforts were futile when she saw the grin that spread across Chase’s face.

“You do. The badass, independent Nico Minoru finally has a crush.”

Nico pushed his shoulder. “Whatever my reason, I’m going back there tonight. I might find something, and I might not, but no matter what, there is nowhere that I’d rather be tonight than that Church.”

“I never thought I’d hear those words come out of your mouth. Have I crossed into an alternate dimension or something?”

Rolling her eyes again, Nico opted to glare at him instead of responding, not wanting to give him anything else to go off of. He rolled his eyes right back at her, but his grin didn’t fail.

“Can I come with you tonight? I need to meet this girl who’s made you go all soft for her in one night.”

All of Nico’s playfulness immediately fell away. “You can’t. I need Karolina to trust me if any of this is going to work, so I can’t bring someone else. She’s only expecting me.”

“But, Nico, you know I worry about you, and I think that if I—”

“No.” Nico cut him off. “You’re not coming, and that’s final.”

“Fine,” Chase relented, “but just because you trust her doesn’t mean that I do.”

He walked off down the hallway without another word, and Nico tried not to feel bad. She hated arguing with Chase, but this was too important to her to let him ruin it. She busied herself with grabbing her books for her first period class, not wanting to bring the wrong books two days in a row. She doubted that would go over very well with her teacher. Also not wanting to be late for class again, she shut her locker door and started walking to first period, even though the warning bell hadn’t even rung yet.

“Hey, Nico!” The raven-haired girl was stopped in her tracks by the voice of her purple-haired friend before she had even made it more than ten steps.

“Hi, Gert.” Nico sighed. “If you’re wondering what I was talking to Chase about, it was—”

“Amy stuff, I know,” Gert said easily. “I understand that you don’t like him as more than a friend and that your secrets have always been about Amy stuff. I’m trying this new thing where I don’t let my feelings get in the way of our friendship.”

“Wow, Gert, that sounds…really great.” Nico couldn’t keep her surprise out of her voice. She half-wondered if Gert had overheard some of what she had been talking about with Chase. After all, he had been pretty loud when teasing her.

“You’re not into him,” Gert said with a smile. “I believe you now. I should’ve always believed you.”

_Oh, she definitely heard something_ , Nico thought. She tried not to look embarrassed as she responded, “Thank you, Gert. That means a lot to me.”

“Wanna hang at my place after school today? I’m sure Molly will be down too.”

“I’d actually really love that.” It would be nice to finally spend time with Gert again without the veil of jealousy between them and going to Gert’s house after school would help Nico pass the time before she could go back to the Church of Gibborim that night. Back to see Karolina again.

 

* * *

 

The back door was unlocked that night, just as Karolina had said it would be. Nico was relieved. Part of her had been worried that Karolina might have changed her mind about tonight or that Leslie would’ve insisted on staying inside after the break-in, but it looked like that wasn’t the case.

Chase’s warning that this was only a trap rang in the back of her head as she walked inside, but she quickly pushed it away. She trusted Karolina.

After quickly punching in the code to the alarm and shutting the door behind her, she quickly made her way upstairs and down the hall to Karolina’s room. She knocked on the door, suddenly nervous. What was she doing? She was supposed to be here strictly to gather information on Amy, not to spend time with Karolina Dean. But she wanted to spend time with her. For the first time since Amy had died, Nico was starting to feel like there might be more important things than getting justice for her sister.

The door opened to reveal darkness and the silhouette of the girl from the night before. The corners of Nico’s lips turned down in a confused frown. She had expected the other girl to be glowing.

“Nico?”

“It’s me.”

Karolina stepped out of the doorway to allow Nico to walk inside. “I was starting to worry that you weren’t coming.”

“Sorry. I was hanging out with a friend after school.” Nico followed Karolina inside, flipping on the light switch. “We kind of lost track of the time a bit.”

“What’s it like, going to school?” Karolina asked.

“You don’t go?”

“I’ve been homeschooled pretty much my whole life.”

“Well, be grateful you don’t have to go,” Nico told her. “It’s boring.”

“I always thought it would be nice.” Karolina sat on the bed behind her.

“So then why don’t you go?” Nico leaned against the desk.

Karolina sighed. “My mom’s been really protective of me since I lost my eyesight. And it’s not that I don’t love her and appreciate everything that she does for me, but it gets annoying sometimes, you know? I mean, am I just supposed to live here in the Church my whole life and then take over after my mom?”

“That’s a question that only your mom can answer. Have you ever considered talking to her about it?”

“I’ve asked her if I can go to school plenty of times, but she says no every time.” Karolina shrugged like it was no big deal, but Nico could easily see that it was. “She always says that she wants me to stay here so that I can be educated in the ways of our faith, but I know that’s not true. I understand, though. She wants to keep me as safe as possible, so she won’t lose me like she lost my dad.”

Her dad. Oh. So Karolina understood what it was like to lose someone, to miss someone. No wonder she had so readily agreed to help Nico once she had mentioned her sister.

“What happened to your dad? If you don’t mind my asking?”

Halfway through Nico’s question, Karolina snapped her head to the side, staring sightlessly into the corner of the room.

“What?” Nico asked. “What’s wrong?”

“Did you hear that?” Karolina whispered, and that’s when Nico realized that Karolina had been angling her ear in the direction of the door. She was listening.

“Hear what?” Nico whispered back.

“Footsteps in the hallway.” Karolina was off the bed in an instant, heading towards the door to go and inspect the source of the sounds.

Nico grabbed Karolina’s arm to stop her, not wanting her to go out there and face the intruder when she had her inhibitor bracelet on and she couldn’t see.

Karolina jumped at the contact, clearly on edge from the sound in the hallway, and Nico immediately felt bad.

“Sorry, I…just don’t want you to go out there by yourself when you’re wearing your bracelet.”

“You know I can take it off, right, Nico?” Karolina said with a small smile, and Nico was extremely grateful that the other girl couldn’t see the furious blush that had spread across her cheeks.

“Okay, so maybe I don’t want you going out there alone at all.”

“Then come with me because there is someone—”

“Nico?”

The girl in question spun around at the sound of the familiar voice to find Chase standing in the doorway. “Chase?! What the hell are you doing here?”

“I was waiting outside for you to show up, but you walked in here so fast that I didn’t have the time to stop you. So I had—”

“I told you not to come here tonight. Don’t you trust me?”

“You know this person?” Karolina spoke from behind Nico, reminding the raven-haired girl of her presence. She grabbed at Nico’s arm, clearly trying to find something to hold on to, to comfort herself in the face of this stranger.

Nico grabbed her hand and intertwined their fingers, trying to reassure Karolina without words that she had nothing to worry about.

“This is my best friend Chase who knew I was coming here tonight, but I seem to recall specifically asking him _not_ to tag along,” she said, shooting him her best death glare.

“I had to, Nico. I already let you come here by yourself last night, and I couldn’t do it again. What if something happened to you, and I had never even once tried to stop you or at least help you? If you died, I would never forgive myself for that.”

Nico could easily see where he was coming from. She understood. He had lost Amy just as much as she had, and they had both lost Alex too in a way. He couldn’t stand to lose her anymore than she could stand to lose him.

“Okay, okay,” she relented. “I probably would’ve done the same thing if it was you coming here instead of me.”

“Wait a second,” Karolina said. “Why would either of you be killed for breaking in here? Isn’t that a bit extreme?”

It was clear from the look in his eyes that Chase still didn’t trust Karolina, despite the fact that her meeting with Nico tonight hadn’t been a trick, and Nico knew that the pleading look in her eyes would do nothing to stop his next words from coming out of his mouth.

“Because Nico’s sister was. That’s why.”

Karolina immediately pulled her hand out of Nico’s and took a few steps back, distancing herself from the other two people in the room. Nico shot another glare at Chase, but he only shrugged, his look telling her that her safety would always come first to him. She was normally grateful for that, but she found herself hating it right about now.

“What do you mean your sister was killed for breaking in here? You told me she was interested in the Church.” Karolina’s words were meant solely for Nico, and Nico knew that she had no other choice but to tell the truth now.

“She was, just not for the religion. I never meant to lie to you. I was afraid you’d think I was using you for information if I told you the truth.”

The look in Karolina’s beautiful blue eyes was hard, and it was a stark contrast from the girl who had been talking to Nico before Chase had appeared. “Then tell me everything. Now.”

Without another option, Nico did. She told her how Amy had snuck into the Church, she told her about the kids that went missing from the Church each year, and she told her how Amy had been killed, everything she knew. She only hoped that Karolina wouldn’t send her away.

Karolina didn’t respond right away, and Nico couldn’t tell if she was mad or hurt or two seconds away from kicking them both out and telling them never to return. All she could tsee was that the hard look was gone from Karolina’s eyes, replaced with something else that Nico couldn’t determine.

“She told me it was only some stupid kid playing around,” she finally said in a far-off voice.

“What?” Nico asked.

“Someone did break into the Church about a year ago,” Karolina told her. “When I confronted them, they ran off, so I never knew who it was, and my mom said it was probably some kid who broke in here on a dare, but it wasn’t, was it? It was your sister.”

About a year ago. That’s exactly when Amy would’ve been snooping.

Nico shared an excited look with Chase. They were finally getting somewhere. Chase looked like he was about to respond, but Nico quickly spoke up before he could. She knew that Karolina would feel much more comfortable answering questions from her. “Did your mom ever say what happened to her?

“No.” Karolina sank down to sit on the bed behind her, looking lost. “Why would she lie to me like that?”

Because she had been the one who killed Amy. Since the very beginning, Nico had suspected Amy had been murdered by the head of the Church. Did Karolina seriously think her mom was innocent? Was there a chance she was right?

She didn’t want to ask about it. She had just met Karolina last night. But she needed to know, needed to hear from Karolina what she thought about her mother. She was slightly afraid that she would lose the blonde’s trust by asking, but Chase would probably ask if she didn’t, and she was sure that Karolina would much rather the question come from her.

“Karolina.” Nico knelt down in front of the blonde, covering her hand with her own. “Is there any chance that your mom could’ve killed my sister?”

“No.” Karolina instantly snatched her hand away from Nico’s. “What the hell, Nico? She’s my _mother_. I think I would know if she was going around killing innocent people.”

Nico exchanged an uncertain glance with Chase. He was thinking the same thing she was. Karolina’s mom had been lying to her for a reason.

“Okay,” Nico said. “Okay. But you understand why we have reason to believe that it might have been someone from your Church?”

“Yes.” Karolina nodded. “If someone in the Church had killed this girl, then there’s no way that my mom would’ve told me. But I’m almost positive that she would’ve known. I just hope she dealt with the apostate accordingly.”

“Do you know where your mom might keep information like that?” Chase finally spoke again from his place near the doorway.

Karolina startled a little at the sound of his voice, as if she had forgotten he was there. She looked hesitant to share information with him, but for some reason, she felt completely comfortable sharing information with Nico. Nico wondered what it was that made this girl trust her so much. Whatever it was, she felt it for Karolina too.

“It’s okay, Karo.” The nickname fell easily from Nico’s lips, and she didn’t dare look at Chase at that moment, keeping her eyes on Karolina’s blue ones. “We can trust him. I promise.”

“My mom keeps lots of files in her office,” Karolina said. “It’s mainly Church teachings and religious stuff, but she might have other information in there too.”

“Could you take me there?” Nico asked. “To her office?”

“You can come back tomorrow, and we’ll go together,” Karolina said. “But just us.”

“I’ll come back by myself tomorrow, I promise,” Nico said, with a pointed look at Chase.

Chase put his hands up in surrender.  I might have misjudged Karolina, okay? We can trust her, and I’ll leave you two alone from now on. I just—can you really glow and fly, Karolina?”

An amused smile spread across Karolina’s face as she unclasped her bracelet and pressed it into Nico’s hand. “Of course.”

As soon as the bracelet was off, Karolina lit up in an array of brilliant colors, and floated up off the bed to prove her point. Chase watched her; awe clearly written on his face as his gaze followed her form up toward the ceiling. “Whoa.”

It was clear that Karolina knew exactly where the ceiling was because she stopped before her head could hit the top and then began to lower herself back down again. An uncertain look crossed her face as she settled back on the bed. “I really glow then?”

“You didn’t know you glow?” Chase asked, confused.

“Well, I can’t see, and I didn’t used to glow,” Karolina said in a small voice.

“You look amazing, Karolina,” Chase told her truthfully. “Your lights are beautiful.”

“Thanks, Chase,” Karolina said, suddenly looking shy, and Nico hoped that it was out of embarrassment from the compliment and not anything else.

“Anyway, Chase,” Nico said, a twinge of unnecessary jealousy rising within her. “I think you’ve overstayed your welcome. Would you mind going home now so I can talk to Karolina alone for a few minutes?”

A smirk spread across Chase’s face at the request, and Nico had to resist the urge to groan at his stupidity. “Ah, yes, pardon me for intruding upon your bonding time. I’ll leave you two to get to know each other.”

He waggled his eyebrows at her, and Nico was so, so glad that Karolina couldn’t see him. Although she was sure the blonde could hear the suggestiveness in his tone. She didn’t even know if Karolina was into girls yet, and she was not amused with Chase’s antics in the slightest.

“I’ll see you soon, Chase.” Nico rolled her eyes.

Chase waved. “Bye, Karolina. It was nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too,” Karolina said politely as Chase finally closed the door behind him.

The two of them sat in silence for a moment once they were left alone, and then Karolina patted the space beside her on the bed, inviting Nico to sit next to her. Nico took the opportunity, sinking down next to Karolina. She wanted nothing more than to hug the other girl, but she had no idea how Karolina felt about hugs, and she didn’t want to upset her more than she probably already had by letting Chase follow her here. She was surprised when Karolina’s hand began to run along the comforter before bumping Nico’s own hand and then moving on top of it, and she felt her stomach flip at the contact.

“Can I have my bracelet back?” Karolina finally broke the silence.

“Yeah, of course.” Nico handed it back to her. She had honestly forgotten that she was even still holding it. “I’m really sorry Chase followed me here.”

“He cares about you.” Karolina took the bracelet back. She didn’t clasp it around her wrist, though, instead holding it in her hand. “My mom would’ve done the same thing for me if she knew I was meeting you.”

“But you didn’t tell her,” Nico guessed.

“Of course not. If I had, she would never have allowed it.”

“You mentioned before that you lost your eyesight. Do you mind if I ask how?” Nico asked, curious.

“Not long after my dad died, I got meningitis.” Karolina shrugged. “I was only five, so I don’t really remember it much, but apparently it was really bad, and I almost died. I was lucky to have survived, but the sickness had damaged my optic nerve and blinded me. Some people get their sight back eventually, but I wasn’t one of them.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Karolina said. “I don’t mind being blind. I mean, it’s all I’ve known for the majority of my life, and I don’t know if I’d be quite the same person if I still had my sight.”

“I like you the way you are, so I won’t argue with that,” Nico said without even really thinking about it.

“You do?”

“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.”

“What do I look like?” Karolina asked after another moment of silence.

It took everything in Nico not to answer with _beautiful_ , and she mentally chastised herself. She barely knew this girl and yet it seemed that she had already developed an intense crush on her.

“What do you mean?” she asked instead.

“What do my lights look like?” Karolina clarified. “Are they…strange?”

“I love your lights, Karolina,” Nico assured her, “but you don’t seem to. Is this why you had your bracelet on when I got here earlier?”

“I don’t want to look like a freak,” Karolina said in a voice laced with insecurity.

“You don’t. Like I told you yesterday, you look beautiful. Your lights look like a mix of pinks and blues and purples that literally move in swirls across your skin, and there’s tiny white diamonds on your skin too, like little stars.” Nico let her eyes wander over Karolina’s skin as she spoke. “You look like a rainbow galaxy.”

Karolina’s lights glowed brighter as Nico spoke, but then they dimmed again. “I can’t believe my mom never told me about this.”

“Maybe she just didn’t want you to feel any more different than you already are.”

“Maybe.” Karolina sighed, leaning further into Nico’s touch.

Nico wondered what it would be like to reach her hand up the few inches from Karolina’s shoulder to run her fingers through the blonde’s now-rainbow-colored hair. She kept her hand where it was, though, not wanting to push her luck.

“Can I touch you like you’re touching me?” Karolina asked.

“My shoulder?”

“Yes.”

By way of answer, Nico took Karolina’s hand from where it still rested on top of her other one and guided it up to her shoulder. Karolina let out a tiny sigh at the touch and began to massage Nico’s shoulder as Nico leaned into her touch.

They didn’t talk anymore, instead choosing to sit in comfortable silence, and Nico found that she liked Karolina’s silent presence as much as her vocal one. She had loved getting the chance to learn more about Karolina today, but she also loved simply existing together in the same space. It was crazy because they had just met yesterday, but Nico already felt like she had known Karolina for years.

After an indeterminate amount of time, Karolina leaned against Nico without a word, and Nico immediately wrapped her arms around the other girl’s glowing skin, pulling her closer. Nico’s heart felt like it was about to burst at the close contact, and she hoped that Karolina couldn’t hear it.

Karolina hummed in contentment, and Nico wondered if the blonde was enjoying this as much as she was, if Karolina could also feel the butterflies tearing her own stomach apart. She had the strongest urge to lean down and place a kiss on Karolina’s head, but she didn’t. Doing so would lead to talking, and Nico didn’t want to ruin this moment with talking.

For the first time since before Amy had died, Nico felt like she was home.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good evening, everybody! I'm back with another longer chapter, and I was able to get it out sooner this time, so I'm happy about that. Thank you to everyone who's continuing to read this story and leave kudos on it, and a special thanks to everyone who left comments. I really love being able to hear what all of you think! I hope you all enjoy the new chapter :)

Nico’s heart beat wildly in her chest as she walked to the Church of Gibborim the next night. She wished she could attribute the palpitations solely to the fact that she might find information about what happened to Amy tonight, but she knew it also had to do with the girl she would be searching for that information with.

After sitting together in silence for at least thirty minutes the previous night, Nico had gone home, not wanting to risk falling asleep in Karolina’s room. They hadn’t said much to each other, but Nico had wanted to. She still wanted to. She wanted to ask Karolina if they could try dating, but she was afraid she would only be setting herself up for embarrassment. Now, she understood why Gert had yet to ask Chase out.

Upon reaching the building, Nico slipped in through the unlocked door and punched in the alarm code. She didn’t even need to go up the staircase to know that Karolina was already waiting for her in the hallway. She could see the rainbow glow from the ground floor.

Hurrying up the stairs, Nico found Karolina sitting on the second-floor landing with her back against the wall.

“Nico?” she asked.

“It’s me,” Nico confirmed, coming to a stop in front of her. “Are we still going into your mom’s office tonight?”

“Yep. Let’s do this.”

Karolina pushed herself up from the ground, and Nico reached out to steady her, gripping Karolina’s hips without even thinking about it. She immediately wanted to smack herself in the head at her own stupidity. Had she really expected Karolina to topple over because she couldn’t see? _Lack of vision doesn’t impede a person’s balance, idiot._

“I’m so sorry. I was just afraid—that—” Nico’s words caught in her throat, which only added to her embarrassment.

“It’s okay, Nico.” Karolina was quick to reassure her. “I promise you, though, that I can get around here just fine on my own.”

“Yeah, okay…I knew that.” Nico was sure her face was tomato-red at that moment. She cursed herself for becoming such a mess around Karolina. She had never acted this way before in her life.

Nico was pretty sure that she saw an amused smile cross Karolina’s face as the blonde turned and started walking down the hallway to the left of the staircase. As she followed after, Nico wondered, not for the first time, if Karolina liked her back. Why did it have to be so hard to tell?

The two of them came to a stop in front of a frosted glass door that read LESLIE DEAN. It was closed and more than likely locked as well. A touch screen keypad sat beside the door, and Nico wondered how Karolina was going to enter the combination, if she should offer to do it for the other girl.

Remembering her slip-up in the hallway, though, Nico remained quiet, not wanting to do anything for Karolina unless the blonde asked her to. Karolina felt for the keypad, pressing a button on the back of the device upon finding it. Something akin to Siri popped up on the screen, asking for the password, and Karolina spoke the 4-digit combination to unlock the door.     

Access was granted, and Nico followed Karolina inside. She flipped on the light switch that she could see in the glow from Karolina’s skin, revealing a room with a desk in the middle and filing cabinets in every corner. Eight filing cabinets, to be exact. Filing cabinets that presumably contained the documents Karolina had mentioned the previous night.

“So, you think I should go through all of the papers in here?” Nico asked, feeling a bit overwhelmed as she walked around the room. “Won’t that take forever?”

“We don’t have to read through them all,” Karolina explained. “The titles should give away whether they’re important or not.”

“We?” Nico echoed, feeling slightly confused. “You’re going to help me?”

“My mom prints all of our teachings out with Braille translations so that I can read them too.”

“Oh, okay. Then how about I start with one cabinet, and you start with the one next to it?”

“That works.” Karolina began to make her way over to the filing cabinet that Nico was standing in front of.

Nico was about to turn toward the cabinet and start going through papers when she saw Karolina trip over the corner of the desk. Nico’s arms were around her in an instant. Karolina clutched Nico tightly to regain her balance, and Nico blushed at the thought that she was holding the girl in her arms for the second time in as many nights.

“Guess you do need steadying sometimes, after all,” Nico teased.

Karolina pushed Nico away playfully. “Whatever. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going, that’s all.”

Nico wanted to question her, wanted to ask what had been on her mind that had her so distracted, but she couldn’t muster up the courage to do it. She was too afraid that the reason wouldn’t have anything to do with her at all, and then she’d end up looking like an even bigger idiot than she had earlier in the hallway.

She crouched down in front of the cabinet closest to her and opened the bottom drawer, Karolina doing the same beside her. Nico began to pull each sheet of paper back to read the title before sliding it back in while Karolina ran her fingers over the Braille titles that were right beneath the typed ones. There were so many documents to go through: religious readings and teachings, information about special events and holidays, papers detailing specific rituals. There was nothing about Amy, though.

Nico pulled out what looked to be some sort of receipt or bill and was surprised to find that even that was translated into Braille. As if Karolina would care how much the Church had paid to purchase the cake for some charity event.

“Why did your mom translate this into Braille?” Nico held out the paper for Karolina to see before realizing her mistake. “It’s a bill for a cake she purchased.”

“That’s how my mom’s printer works. Shortly after I lost my sight, she got a printer that prints out in type and Braille so that I can read anything she can read. She doesn’t want me to feel left out, and I really appreciate that.”

“That’s really nice of her,” Nico said, wondering how it was possible that Leslie cared so much. What kind of mother purchased a Braille printer so that her blind daughter never felt left out but then turned around and murdered other people’s children like it was nothing?

“Yeah, I always thought so too.” Nico noticed a small smile on Karolina’s face, and she couldn’t help but smile a little at the sight of it. Karolina clearly loved her mother, maybe for good reason, and Nico wished she didn’t have to be the one to ruin her entire view of the woman. She hoped, for Karolina’s sake, that they were going to find some other explanation, that some rogue member of the Church had killed Amy and Leslie had dealt with that person accordingly, but Nico knew in her heart that wasn’t the truth. It had to have been Leslie; otherwise, why would she keep it a secret?

Maybe she should just call off the search. After all, finding out the truth wasn’t going to bring Amy back. Was it really so important to her that she’d turn Karolina’s entire world upside down to figure it out?

Nico glanced over at the blonde beside her, who was running her fingers over the titles of the documents in quick succession, determined to help Nico, and Nico knew that what they were doing was worth it. Karolina deserved to know the truth as much as Nico did.

When Nico finally finished going through the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet, she sighed and slid it shut. Nothing about Amy had appeared yet, but she suspected that was because everything in the drawer had been from 2015.

“We’re never going to find anything like this,” Nico said. “The stuff in my drawer is from 2015, but Amy didn’t die until 2017. We need to be looking through the 2017 section.”

“That’s what I’m searching actually,” Karolina said.

“And?” Nico asked.

“Nothing so far, but you can help me if you want to.”

“Yes, please.”

Splitting up the documents in the drawer made the search go much faster, but it was still as fruitless as the last search. Nico was starting to get discouraged. Leslie documented everything—bills, reminders to do things on certain days, even some private journaling—but there was absolutely no mention of Amy’s name or anything about the missing kids.

Once they had gone through every document, Nico slammed the drawer shut. She almost felt bad about it when Karolina visibly jumped beside her, but any guilt she was feeling was swallowed by frustration. “Goddamn it! There’s nothing in here, no evidence. It’s over.”

“It’s not over, Nico,” Karolina said, her tone gentle. “There are still so many documents in here.”

“I appreciate the effort, Karolina, but we’re never gonna find anything in here. Any documents before 2017 won’t have anything to do with my sister.”

“But 2018 could,” Karolina pointed out hopefully. “Or maybe my mom keeps criminal records together in a different drawer. There’s no reason to stop searching now.”

“Or maybe your mom got rid of any criminal evidence when she realized that Amy had broken into the Church because she didn’t want anyone else to get their hands on it. I’m tired of wasting my time on this.”

Nico knew she was being ridiculous. She knew Karolina had a point. But it was hard for her not to be discouraged when she had come into tonight hoping to finally out what had happened to Amy, the only thing she had wanted for so long, only to have her hopes dashed again like they always were.

“Does this mean you don’t want to come back anymore?” Karolina asked sullenly.

Nico hadn’t even noticed that Karolina’s glow had been growing dimmer and dimmer as they spoke until it went out altogether. She forgot about the current topic of conversation for a moment as she looked down at Karolina’s wrist in awe. No bracelet.

“You’re not glowing anymore,” Nico said.

“I’m not?” Karolina asked in confusion.

“No. Did your powers shut off or something?”

“I don’t think so.” Karolina levitated off the ground for a moment to verify what she had said, and her skin immediately burst into color. “See?”

“You’re glowing again,” Nico told her. “It started the minute you left the ground.”

“That’s weird,” Karolina mused, a contemplative expression on her face. “There’s this feeling I get when I glow, this warmth. I wasn’t feeling it a minute ago because I was upset that you were upset, but maybe if I…”

Her voice trailed off, and Nico watched as her lights gradually grew dimmer and then blinked out entirely. Nico’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “You can control your glow.”

“Yeah, I guess I can,” Karolina agreed with a smile.

“Looks like you don’t need that bracelet, after all.” Nico got to her feet beside Karolina and gave her shoulder a proud squeeze.

“I still have to wear it, though. Everyone in the Church wears them, and my mom would freak if she saw me without it. Plus, can you imagine if I started glowing in front of everyone else at Service? They’d probably think I was a goddess or something.”

“Probably,” Nico agreed with a laugh.

She felt much better than she had a few minutes ago, and she really appreciated Karolina’s ability to lighten her mood. Besides, the blonde was right. There were plenty more drawers to search in this office.

“You were right earlier. There might still be information in here if we look for it,” Nico admitted. “And even if there isn’t, even if we never find anything at all, I’ll always want to come back here. I like spending time with you, Karolina.”

A smile spread across Karolina’s face, and she brought her hand up to cup Nico’s cheek. It took her a moment to find it, but Nico didn’t mind. She was too busy trying to calm her racing heart at the mere contact.

“Thank you, Nico,” Karolina said.

“For what?” Nico managed to say.

“Being my friend.”

“Same.” Nico kept her answer short, her mind unable to form a coherent sentence right now. The only thing she could think about was the distance between Karolina’s lips and her own and how much she wanted to close it.

Karolina didn’t say anything in response, and she didn’t remove her hand; Nico wondered if Karolina was considering kissing her too. It was probably wishful thinking, but maybe Karolina was only afraid to go through with it because she didn’t want to do anything that could cause her to lose Nico as a friend. Which was exactly how Nico herself felt. That was why she needed to put some distance between her and Karolina before she did anything that she would come to regret.

“Um, I should probably get going,” Nico said, looking down at her phone and realizing that it was already past two in the morning. “I don’t want to be too tired tomorrow, or my parents might get suspicious.”

“Right.”

Karolina moved away from Nico, and Nico immediately missed the warmth of her body so close to hers, the caring that had been present in those blue eyes as they almost met Nico’s but not quite.

“What time is it?” Karolina asked.

“2:10.”

Karolina’s eyes widened. “I’ve gotta get to bed, or I’m gonna be a zombie at Service tomorrow.”

Nico chuckled, instantly cursing herself for how unlike her it had sounded. She saw Karolina smile in response to it, though, so she supposed it had been worth it.

“Goodnight, Karo,” she said.

“Night, Nico.”

The hardest part of every night was leaving Karolina behind.

 

* * *

 

“So what made you think that Amy’s death wasn’t an accident?” Nico and Gert had been hanging out at Nico’s house re-watching One Day at a Time for the better part of three hours when Gert asked the question. Nico had honestly forgotten that she had even told her friend anything about what had been going on. She knew it had only been three days ago, but so much had been happening that three days ago felt like a lifetime.

 “I found something in her room,” Nico said automatically, using the same vague truth that she had given Gert the first time.

“So you said,” Gert said, rolling her eyes. “Are you ever going to tell me what it was?”

She thought about changing the subject again, but Gert was her friend. She deserved to know at least something. “Fine. I found the alarm code for the Church of Gibborim written on her mirror in invisible ink. She had to have been sneaking in there.”

Gert’s eyes widened in shock. “And you think they killed her for it?”

“It’s possible.” Nico shrugged, keeping her face neutral. “Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find anything else.”

It was sort of true. She hadn’t found any definitive proof that the Church had killed Amy yet, but she deliberately kept the part about the missing kids out.

“Maybe you could use the code to sneak in there yourself,” Gert suggested, “see what’s going on.”

“That’s what I wanted to do, but Chase talked me out of it.” There was no way that Nico was going to risk Gert getting involved. “He said it was too dangerous, and he’s probably right. I mean, we don’t know much about this cult, and if they really killed Amy, I think—”

“I could do it if you want me to. You could give me the code, and I could—”

“No, Chase was right.” Nico adamantly shook her head. “No one is sneaking into the Church of Gibborim. There was a reason that Amy never told us about any of this when she was still alive. She wouldn’t want us to put our lives at risk for her.”

Gert narrowed her eyes at Nico. “So, you can honestly say that you finally learned something about what Amy had been up to before she died, and you’re not going to do a single thing about it?”

“Yes.” Nico hoped that she both looked and sounded confident in her response.

Gert looked at Nico for several long seconds, and Nico began to worry that she had given herself away somehow. Her purple-haired friend had seen right through her lie, and now she was going to have to tell her everything.

“Okay, I’m sorry then. I was just trying to help,” Gert finally said, and Nico held back a sigh of relief.

“It’s okay,” she said with a genuine smile. “How about I help you with something instead?”

“With what?”

“With Chase, obviously.”

“I know I said I was going to try to ask him out, but I’m not sure if I can, Nico.” Gert’s eyes darted away from Nico’s, choosing to focus instead on the wall behind her.

“Why not?” Nico asked.

“What if it ruins everything? What if he doesn’t want to be friends with me anymore?” Nico could see the fear in Gert’s eyes, and she was starting to feel guilty for even bringing the subject up. Before, she had thought Gert was being silly, but now she understood exactly what the other girl was feeling. She felt the same way about Karolina. But Nico knew Chase in a way that she didn’t know Karolina. She could at least put Gert’s fears to rest like she wished that someone else could do for her own.

“Chase? Seriously? Can you really see Chase reacting like that?”

“No, I guess not.” A laugh escaped from Gert’s lips at the realization.

“I’ll be completely honest with you,” Nico said, planning to do just that for once. “I don’t know if Chase likes you like that. He hasn’t said anything to me, and I’ve never really known him to like anyone before. But I do know that he listens to what you say. He talks about you when you’re not around. I’ve never seen him be as close to anyone aside from me, Amy, and Alex as he is to you. Nothing bad is going to happen if you ask him out. No one’s feelings will get majorly hurt, and there aren’t any risks. Believe me, it’s better to get your feelings out there.”

“Yeah.” Gert nodded slowly, taking in everything that Nico had said. “Yeah, you’re right. It’ll feel much better to tell him how I feel, instead of trying to hide it all the time. I want to know if I have a chance with him.”

A wide smile spread across Gert’s face as she continued speaking. “Thanks, Nico. I’ve got to go, though, so I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Anytime,” Nico said as she watched Gert grab her phone and stand from the bed, slinging her bag over her shoulder before making her way out the door. She called out a quick goodbye, and then Nico was left staring at the spot where her friend had just been and where she had been planning for her friend to remain for the next couple of hours. Then she burst into laughter. That was just how Gert was.

Having nothing else to do for the evening now that her plans had seemingly changed, Nico wandered out of her room to find her parents in the living room, her mom typing on her phone in the armchair by the fireplace and her dad on his laptop in the other one. The two of them looked up from what they were doing when Nico entered the room and plopped down on the sofa across from them.

“Gert sure left in a hurry,” Tina commented. “Is everything all right between you two?”

“Of course,” Nico said with a smile. “I finally talked her into doing something about her crush on Chase. Right now, apparently.”

Robert chuckled. “It’s about time. She’s liked him for a couple years now.”

“I hope I didn’t encourage her to do the wrong thing,” Nico said, the doubt already creeping in on her. “If Chase likes any girl, then it’s Gert, but I don’t know if he does. Like her, I mean.”

“Please.” Tina waved a hand in front of her face. “He talks about her a lot more than I think you realize. I’d be shocked if he turned her down.”

“Well, yeah, but what if he only views her as a close friend?” Nico pointed out. “I talk about Chase a lot too.”

“It’s different, honey,” Robert said. “The way he interacts with her is different from the way he interacts with you. He views you as a close friend, but her? I think she has a fair shot with him.”

“How do you know that?”

“Must be a parent thing,” he answered with a grin.

If her parents were so good at reading people, Nico wished that they knew Karolina so that they give her some insight on what she should do about her own crush. The more she helped Gert figure out what to do with Chase, the more she herself wanted to figure out what to do with Karolina.

“What if two people just met a few days ago, but they already feel really comfortable around each other, and it kind of feels like the universe is pulling them together? Would you say that they like each other?” Nico asked before she could really think about it.

“I would say that it looks like Gert isn’t the only one with a crush.” Tina shared a glance with Robert, a knowing smile on her face.

Nico rolled her eyes at them. “If you’re not going to be of any help, then fine. Forget I asked.”

“Well, I don’t know these people,” Robert said with an amused glint in his eyes, “but from the way you described it, I would say that it’s very possible that these two like each other, yes.”

“Great, thanks.” Nico couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across her face as she got up from the couch, wanting to get away from her parents before they started asking questions.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Robert said. “Who is this person? Don’t we get to know anything about them?”

“Just some girl in my class,” Nico lied.

“Do we know her?” Tina asked.

“No, Mom, you don’t know her.” Nico just wanted to get out of the room so she could stop feeling so vulnerable.

“I hope you know that we expect to meet her after you ask her out,” Robert said.

“Who said anything about asking her out?” Nico wished she could sink through the floor; she was feeling so flustered.

Tina leaned forward in her chair, all traces of her amusement from seconds ago now replaced by seriousness. “Nico, for what it’s worth, I think you should just go for it. There’s no reason to torture yourself with the maybes and what ifs, as I’m sure you told Gert a few minutes ago. If this girl likes you, then great, and if not, then I’m sorry, but it’s better to get the truth out there than to constantly wonder. And if she feels as comfortable around you as you say you do around her, then odds are, she probably likes you too.”

Those words stayed with Nico for the rest of the night. She knew she shouldn’t let them get to her like that; her mom knew nothing about Karolina or how she and Nico interacted with each other. But she had still stirred the hope in Nico that Karolina might feel the same way about her. And maybe Nico was ready to take that chance.

 

* * *

 

There was always a Gathering held in the Church of Gibborim on Sunday evenings to celebrate the ending of one week and the beginning of a new week. It was a time to share a meal with those around them and to pray together that their light would shine bright within them in the week to come. Karolina usually loved the Sunday Gatherings because they helped her to clear her mind of the previous week’s burdens and prepare for the week ahead of her. This week, however, Karolina couldn’t seem to push her burdens from her mind.

She still felt guilty about lying to her mom. Last night, she let Nico into the Church and helped the other girl go through her mother’s documents, something Leslie surely wouldn’t approve of. But she was doing it to help Nico find out what happened to her sister. She was doing the right thing, wasn’t she?

Besides, Karolina’s mom had been lying to her as well. She hadn’t once told Karolina that her skin glowed, and now, come to think of it, Karolina didn’t think that her mother had ever actually explained where they had gotten their powers from in the first place, only saying they were a gift or a blessing.

Not to mention, Karolina still suspected that her mother knew what had happened to Nico’s sister. She had gotten too tense when Karolina had played off the break-in the other day, almost like she had suspected that it might have been someone finally coming to seek information on what had happened to the girl who had broken in almost a year ago. What had happened to her? What did Leslie know?

Karolina was pulled out of her thoughts by a hand coming to rest on her shoulder. She could tell by the touch that it was her mother. “Karolina, are you okay? Everyone else moved into the reception area a few minutes ago to share a meal.”

“I know,” Karolina said. “I wasn’t finished praying, so I thought I would catch up with you guys in a few minutes.”

“Are you sure everything’s okay?” Leslie asked, worry coloring her tone.

“I’m fine, Mom. I was actually just…wondering…about my powers.”

She lowered her voice when she said the last part, not wanting anyone to overhear her.

“What about them?” Leslie asked.

“Well, how did we get them, Mom? I don’t think you ever really told me.”

Leslie was silent for several long seconds. The din of the voices from the reception area carried faintly into the room as Karolina waited for a response, and she caught bits of conversation. A man let out a hearty laugh. A child shrieked as she presumably played with another child. A baby began to squeal. Karolina now found herself wishing that she was in the lighthearted atmosphere of that room instead of alone out here with her mother.

Leslie’s clothes rustled as she shifted, and she drew her hand back from Karolina’s shoulder. “Almost ten years ago, I reached Elite Ultra, the highest level of enlightenment that anyone in our faith can reach. As the first one to reach that level, I was gifted with certain abilities, and I later learned that you, as my successor, were as well.”

Karolina nodded to show her mom she understood, but she wasn’t sure that she bought it. If their powers had been given to them for religious reasons, then why did they have to keep them a secret? Maybe her mom was afraid that other people would get jealous if she revealed her powers. Karolina knew that the last thing her mom wanted was to breed an air of negativity and competitiveness in the people of the Church.

“Where is this coming from, Karolina?” Leslie asked.

“I don’t know,” Karolina said. “I guess I want to feel more connected to who we are, to know why we’re so different.”

Leslie pulled Karolina into a hug, and Karolina wrapped her arms around her mother, wanting nothing more than to believe that she was telling the truth and forget she had ever doubted her at all. “Oh, sweetheart, we may be different from everyone else, but at least we have each other. We are the same.”

“But you can see,” Karolina pointed out. “So we’re not exactly the same.”

Leslie’s brows furrowed in confusion. “You haven’t been upset about that in years. Not since you’ve gotten so comfortable around the Church. Is something bothering you?”

“I don’t know. I just…really want to go to school and be around more people my age. I get why you want me to stay here, I really do, but I can’t spend my entire life in this Church.”

Karolina heard Leslie’s foot brush the ground as she shifted position before she felt her mother begin rubbing her arm. “I understand, and I know I haven’t always been fair to you about that. I’ll see what I can do about getting you enrolled in a school for the blind next year. Does that sound good?”

“Really?” Karolina was so shocked, that was the only word her brain was able to form.

“Yes. I promise,” Leslie said warmly. “How about I stay here with you tonight? You seem like you could use some company.”

“Okay.” Karolina was so happy that she had finally gotten her mom to budge on sending her to school that she didn’t feel too disappointed about not getting to spend time with Nico tonight. Every time she had asked her mother before, the answer had been a firm no. As much as Karolina loved spending time with Nico, she wanted to spend time with her mom as well. She was sure that Nico wouldn’t mind taking one night off from their search.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think you guys are going to like this one ;) also, Old Lace finally makes an appearance!

Nico walked into school the next morning feeling glummer than she had in days. When she had gone to the Church of Gibborim the previous night, the door had been locked, and Nico hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it since. She knew that Leslie had probably stayed in with Karolina that night, but Nico’s brain kept telling her that Karolina didn’t want to see her anymore, and this was her way of telling her. Rationally, she knew that Karolina would never just lock her out like that with no explanation, but that didn’t stop her from feeling upset over it.

She knew their search for information about Amy could wait for one night, but Nico’s desire to see Karolina could not. Plus, she had been planning on telling Karolina how she felt last night, and the fact that she hadn’t been able to only led her to feel more bummed out. Maybe the locked door was the universe’s way of warning her that telling Karolina the truth about how she felt was a terrible idea.

Her eyes caught sight of Gert and Chase as she approached her locker, and she was about to groan at the thought that she would have to deal with both of them when she didn’t really feel like talking to anyone before she noticed their conjoined hands. Gert had actually asked Chase out last night. And he had said yes. As much as Nico wanted to feel jealous at the realization, she couldn’t help but feel happy and excited for her two friends.

“The day has finally come!” Nico exclaimed teasingly when she reached them, her gloomy mood dissipating by the second.

“Shut up.” Gert rolled her eyes, but her annoyed tone didn’t match the wide smile that currently stretched across her face.

“See, I told you it was worth it,” Nico said, playfully rolling her eyes right back at her. “Now, aren’t you glad you asked him?”

“Yes,” Gert admitted with a blush. “So, so glad.”

“I’m glad she asked too.” Chase had a spark in his eyes that Nico didn’t think she’d ever seen there before. “I think I’ve liked Gert ever since I met her.”

Nico laughed. “You always have loved how she challenges your views on…basically everything.”

“It’s refreshing,” Chase agreed with a nod.

“Hey, guys!” Molly walked up beside her sister with an excited smile on her face. “In honor of our favorite couple finally getting together, why don’t we all hang out at our place after school? We can have, like, a mini party. Stacey makes the best strawberry cake.”

“Aww, we’d love to, Molls,” Gert said, “but Chase and I are going out on our first date today after school.”

“Amazing! Where are you guys going?”

“Well, I wanted to take her out to dinner,” Chase answered, “but apparently that was too heteronormative, so we settled on bowling instead.”

“I thought dating in general was too heteronormative,” Nico said.

“Okay, so I may have only said that because I was jealous,” Gert admitted, pushing her glasses further up her nose.

An amused smile spread across Molly’s face. “Have fun, you guys.”

“I can hang out after school if you want, Molly,” Nico offered. “We can celebrate for them.”

Molly shook her head. “They’re not getting out of this so easily. We can celebrate after the date. That way, Nico and I will have time to help Stacey with the cake.”

“I’m down for that.” Nico raised a questioning eyebrow at the others.

“All right, all right, we’ll be there,” Gert said.

She didn’t even sound remotely annoyed.

 

* * *

 

That afternoon, Nico found herself in Molly’s room as they waited for the cake to finish baking. It hadn’t been hard for them to convince Stacey to help them bake one to celebrate her eldest daughter’s first date, and they had easily prepared it and gotten it into the oven in no time. All that was left now was to decorate it.

“I can’t believe they’re finally together.” Molly broke the comfortable silence that had settled between them. She was leaning against the headboard of her bed, petting the black fur of the family Labrador, Old Lace, who was lying beside her. “I was starting to think it might never happen.”

“Same,” Nico said from where she was lying on her back across the end of the bed. “I’m really happy for them, though. And also relieved that Gert will stop getting jealous whenever I need to talk to Chase alone.”

“Actually, I think you managed to convince her of that on Friday,” Molly said with a smirk. “At least, that’s what she told me when you left our house that night.”

Nico rolled over to face Molly with a scowl. “What exactly did she tell you?”

“Nothing much. Just that you have a crush on somebody else.” Molly shrugged, still grinning despite Nico’s glare.

“I do not have a crush on someone else.”

“Gert says you do. She said she overheard you talking to Chase about it.”

“I was actually talking to Chase about how I do _not_ have a crush on this person that he still annoyingly thinks I have a crush on.”

“Whatever you say,” Molly said, her tone teasing.

Nico huffed and rolled onto her back again, staring up at the ceiling to let her younger friend know that their conversation was most definitely over. She did not want to be thinking about Karolina right now when she should only be focusing on Gert and Chase. This was their big day, and it had been years in the making. Besides, Nico did not need to analyze for the millionth time why the back door of the Church hadn’t been left unlocked last night.

“Whoever they are, maybe you should just go for it.” Molly broke the silence again after several seconds had passed. “Love is in the air today, so I’d say your chances are pretty high.”

“Can we please stop talking about this?” Nico groaned.

An amused laugh escaped Molly’s lips at Nico’s reply, but she nodded, thankfully agreeing to let the subject drop.

Nico did not need yet another person telling her that she had a good shot with Karolina. Believing her mom about it yesterday had only led to disappointment, and she didn’t need to get her hopes up again now. If she really had such a good chance with Karolina, then that door wouldn’t have been locked last night.

 

* * *

 

“How was your date?” Stacey was in front of her daughter before Gert could even finish opening the door.

“Did you have fun?” Dale was right behind her, sharing in her excitement over their daughter’s first date.

“It was fine,” Gert said with a laugh. “You could’ve at least waited until we got in the door to ask about it, you know.”

“Oh, we’re just excited for you, honey,” Stacey said.

“The girls helped your mom make cake,” Dale added.

“Yeah, Molly mentioned something about that,” Gert said with a smile.

“Well, come in.” Dale gestured for the two of them to come inside.

“Go ahead and cut the cake,” Stacey told them, holding up her phone. “I want to get pictures.”

Molly met Nico’s gaze from her spot beside her at the kitchen table and rolled her eyes. Nico only laughed. Molly might have been embarrassed by her parents’ behavior, but Nico didn’t mind it. She thought it was nice that Dale and Stacey were so easily excited over what was happening in their kids’ lives.

After Gert and Chase had cut the cake that was waiting for them on top of the kitchen table, complete with _Congrats, Gertchase!_ written in black frosting across the strawberry icing, Dale and Stacey finally left the four of them alone, excusing themselves to go downstairs to their basement to perform some experiment or other. The pair were scientists, and they had been working with various creatures downstairs in their basement lab for as long as Nico had known their daughters.

“Gertchase, huh? Is that what you guys have decided to refer to us as?” Gert arched an eyebrow at Nico.

“Hey, don’t look at me.” Nico raised her hands up in front of her. “That was all Molly.”

“I wanted to give you two a ship name,” Molly explained when her sister’s head turned in her direction, “but I also didn’t want to join your names together in a way that offended you, so I kept them whole and put them together. That way, you’re not two halves of a whole or anything; you’re two wholes instead. We can change it if you don’t like it.”

“It’s perfect, Molls.” Gert gave her sister a warm smile. “I love it.”

“Thanks, Gert,” Molly said, smiling brightly.

For a split second, Nico felt jealous of the two sisters and the love they shared between them. She herself had had that kind of bond with Amy all her life. It wasn’t fair that she’d had to lose Amy, but it was in the past now, and there was nothing she could do to change the fact that she had. All she could do now was remind herself to be hopeful that her two friends never had to suffer the same fate. After all, Nico admired the strong bond that the two had with each other and would never want to see anything come between them.

“So, who won the most bowling games?” Nico directed her question at Chase.

He hadn’t been talking as much as Gert had, seemingly content to sit back with a smile on his face and watch her talk about their adventure that night. But Nico wanted to hear something from him. He was her best friend after all.

“Gert kicked my ass.” The smile on his face gave away that he didn’t care about the outcome of the games as much as he tried to let on. “Did you guys know she used to play in a bowling league when she was in elementary school?”

“Of course I knew that.” Molly laughed. “She’s my sister.”

Nico shared a smile with Chase across the table. She was happy that he had finally gotten together with the person he fit so well with, in Nico’s opinion. Well, she would be lying if she said she wasn’t a little jealous, but she was mostly happy.

As the night went on, Nico couldn’t help but wish that she could bring Karolina home to meet her own parents, that she could kiss Karolina’s lips the way that Gert and Chase kissed each other’s a couple time throughout the night, that she could be drunk on the feeling of finally being together. She had been trying not to think about Karolina at all that night, trying to focus solely on her friends, but ever since she had met the blonde last Thursday night, not thinking about her had proven to be increasingly difficult for Nico.

 

* * *

 

That night, Nico had gotten to the Church of Gibborim an hour earlier, arriving at 10 instead of her usual 11. She’d hoped that throwing herself into her search for answers would stop the feelings of jealousy that had begun to take up residence in her mind after having been around Gert and Chase for a few hours, but it didn’t seem to be working. Which she should’ve figured since the person she was searching for answers with was the same person who was constantly plaguing her mind.

It didn’t help that they had already gone through two full filing cabinets of information, and they hadn’t found a single mention of Amy or anything that was even remotely suspicious at all.

After searching through the first drawer of a new cabinet for a while, Nico sighed and slumped back. “I think I might have been right yesterday. If your mom did have any incriminating information in here when Amy was sneaking in before, then it’s long gone now.”

“Hey.” Karolina scooted closer to Nico, her blue gaze falling somewhere below Nico’s eyes. It didn’t help that it looked like she was staring at Nico’s lips. “There are so many papers in here that it’s highly likely that my mom missed something, even if she was throwing things out. We can’t give up yet.”

“I wasn’t giving up,” Nico was quick to say. “I was just getting a little put out, that’s all. You seriously think your mom might have gotten rid of evidence, though? Why would she do that? I thought you didn’t believe she was involved.”

“I don’t know, Nico. She didn’t kill your sister, but there’s something going on that she’s not telling me. I mean, she never even told me I glowed, and I realized yesterday that she never even really explained to me how we got our powers at all. And when I asked her about it last night, I’m pretty sure she lied to me.” Karolina looked upset, and it took everything in Nico not to interrupt her by pulling her into a hug. “Everything’s just been really confusing lately. I don’t know who I can trust anymore.”

Nico moved her hand up to cup Karolina’s cheek, her thumb rubbing small circles there. “You can trust me.”

“I barely know you,” Karolina said, and Nico tried not to be hurt at the statement. No matter how comfortable they felt around one another, Karolina was right not to trust Nico with everything so easily. Complete trust was something they would have to build together over time.

“I know, but I promise I’m going to do everything I can to prove that to you,” Nico responded. “I would never hurt you.”

“Thank you, Nico,” Karolina said, a smile spreading across her face at the words. “I’ve never had a friend like you before.”

Nico knew she should take that as a compliment. Karolina calling her a friend after only knowing her for five days was a big deal, but she couldn’t help but cringe internally at the word. Nico didn’t want to be friends with Karolina. She wanted to be more than that.

She was already cupping Karolina’s cheek. Their faces were already so close together. All she had to do was lean in a couple inches farther, and they would be kissing, like she wanted so desperately in that moment. She knew it was a terrible idea. Kissing Karolina could ruin any chance she had of finding out why Amy had been killed, any chance she had of being a part of Karolina’s life at all.

On top of that, she was nervous. She had never kissed anyone before, and she was only now realizing how big of a deal that actually was. What if she messed it up somehow? She wanted her memory of her first kiss to be special, didn’t she?

She took a deep breath, forcing all of her worry-filled thoughts away, trying to clear her head of anything at all.

That was when she heard Molly’s voice echo throughout her mind, repeating the words of encouragement that she had said to Nico earlier in her room.

_Love is in the air today._

_Just go for it._

So that was exactly what Nico did.

She leaned in and connected her lips with Karolina’s like she had wanted to do since the night they met. She was slightly surprised that Karolina didn’t flinch at all at the contact, almost as if she had expected it, but then she realized that Karolina wasn’t kissing back either. Maybe Nico’s kiss wasn’t as welcome as she had thought.

For a second, she worried that this was it, her one moment of pure bliss before everything came crashing down around her, so she focused all of her energy into enjoying the feel of those soft lips against hers for the first and most likely last time.

She was about to pull back when she felt Karolina’s lips begin to move against hers, and she would’ve let out a relieved laugh had her lips not otherwise been occupied. She felt Karolina’s hand grip at the back of her head, fingers tangling in her hair, and she relished in the feeling as Karolina pulled them closer to deepen the kiss.

Nico almost couldn’t believe it. She was kissing Karolina, and the other girl was kissing her back. She had never really thought herself one for kissing and the feelings that accompany falling in love, but Karolina was easily proving her wrong. Nico knew that she would never hear the end of this from Chase, but in that moment, she didn’t really care at all.

Much too soon, Karolina pulled away, although Nico knew that anytime would’ve felt like too soon to end a moment like that. She watched as Karolina’s eyes fluttered open, her skin glowing brighter than Nico had ever seen it, and a wide smile spread across her face. Nico couldn’t help but smile as well. She loved seeing Karolina look so happy.

“That was…amazing,” Karolina said.

“Yeah,” Nico agreed. “So…you’re…you really like me too?”

“I wouldn’t have kissed you back if I didn’t,” Karolina said with a laugh. “I realized that I wanted to kiss you two days ago, but I was afraid to, and I wanted some time to think about it first. Now, though…I think maybe I’ve felt something for you all along, and I just didn’t notice.”

“I felt something for you all along, and I definitely noticed,” Nico said, embarrassed at having finally admitted it out loud. She wasn’t used to talking about her feelings, but she wanted to be completely honest with Karolina.

“So are we together now? Like, I mean, are we a couple?” Now, it was Karolina’s turn to stumble over her words.

“If that’s what you want to be,” Nico said easily.

“Yes.” Karolina nodded slowly, like she was realizing it for the first time herself. “I think I would really like that, yes.”

“Could we maybe kiss some more then?” Nico asked, already craving the feeling of Karolina’s lips moving against hers again.

“Later,” Karolina said with a teasing smile, leaning back to put some distance in between them, “but only after we go through some more of these documents. I don’t want you to forget about why you came here in the first place just because we’re dating now.”

A smile spread across Nico’s face at those words. “The more time I spend here with you, the harder it is to remember.”

Karolina rolled her eyes playfully at Nico before leaning in and slowly bringing her lips to Nico’s for a chaste kiss. Nico tried to sink into the kiss, but Karolina was pulling back again almost before Nico could even return it.

“Fine,” Nico said with a sight of defeat. “We’ll each go through one more drawer and then we can spend a bit of time together before I have to leave?”

“Deal,” Karolina said with a smile.

The two girls turned back to their respective filing cabinets and began going through documents again, almost just like before, only this time, they sat a little bit closer together. Karolina reached for Nico’s hand, and Nico laced their fingers together. It made the going a bit slower for both girls as they searched, but it was a setback that Nico didn’t mind at all.

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karolina and Nico finally find something XD

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoy the new chapter!

 “You’re smiling before 8 in the morning.” Chase arrived at his locker beside Nico, dropping his backpack to the floor before putting in his locker combination. “Nico Minoru smiling before 8 in the morning is a rare occurrence.”

“Maybe there are some things you still don’t know about Nico Minoru yet.” Nico’s smile didn’t fade as she grabbed her first period materials from her locker and loaded them into her backpack.

“Like what she looks like when she has a crush?” Chase asked as he pulled his locker door open. “No, I don’t quite know that yet, but I think I’m learning.”

“I could say the same thing about you.” Nico zipped up her backpack and slung it over her shoulder.

He raised his eyebrows at her. “Oh, so she doesn’t deny it.”

“Usually, I would,” Nico admitted, closing her locker door and twisting her lock around, “but not today.”

“Why? What’s today?”

“Today, my friend, is the day after I finally kissed Karolina Dean.”

The book Chase was holding in his hands dropped back into his locker, completely forgotten, as he turned to look at Nico with wide, excited eyes. “You did what?”

“I kissed her,” Nico said again, relishing the way it sounded when she said it out loud. “Karolina Dean.”

“And I take it she must’ve been into it,” Chase said with a knowing grin.

“Yup, and she said she wanted us to be a couple now.”

“Does that mean you can take her out on dates? Maybe you guys can double date with me and Gert,” Chase said excitedly.

Nico’s smile faltered for the first time that morning. “That would require me explaining to Gert exactly how I even know Karolina in the first place. Not to mention, there’s no way that Karolina’s mom would let her leave the Church with me when she doesn’t even know who I am. And Karolina can’t tell her without admitting that she’s been lying to her for the past five nights. I doubt that would go over well.”

“Okay, I see your point about that,” Chase relented, “but I still don’t understand why Gert can’t at least meet her. You guys have been friends for five years now. Don’t you think she deserves to know that you’re finally seeing someone?”

“If it was anyone else, you know I would’ve told Gert right after I told you. But I can’t tell her about Karolina. If I do, she’ll want to get involved, and I don’t want anything to happen to her because of me. Going after this stuff is dangerous, as you know. Someone might get hurt, and I don’t want there to be any chance that someone is anyone other than me.”

“Is that really your choice, though?” Chase asked. “You know that Gert wouldn’t hesitate to risk her life for you if you gave her the chance. Neither would I.”

“I’m not going to lose Gert like I lost Amy, okay? I refuse,” Nico said, all traces of her earlier happiness now gone. “And I’m not going to lose you either.”

With that, she turned and started toward her first period class. She didn’t feel like arguing with Chase right now. It hadn’t been easy for her to decide not to let her friends help her with this, but it was the right decision. It was the only decision.

“Nico, wait,” Chase called after her.

“I’ll see you in third, Chase,” was her only reply.

She would never put her friends in danger because of something she hadn’t been able to let lie. She was the one who wanted to find out what had happened to Amy, so she was going to do it on her own. Chase was worried about her, she understood that, but he needed to understand that she was worried about him too. She was worried about both him and Gert. That was exactly why she didn’t want them getting involved.

As she walked down the hallway, she felt eyes on her, and she wondered if Chase had followed her. It would be exactly like him not to let the conversation drop, but when she turned around, she saw that it was Alex walking down the hall a ways behind her, his eyes never leaving her figure.

She caught him watching her every now and then, the same mixture of guilt and regret in his eyes, but she didn’t know what he wanted her to do. He had shut her and Chase out after Amy had died, had refused to tell them what he so obviously knew. They were right to resent him for it. She rolled her eyes at him and raised her middle finger high, knowing that he, along with everyone else in the hallway, would be able to see it.

She didn’t care at all.

 

* * *

 

It had been a week. A week of endlessly going through documents in filing cabinets, of disappointment coloring the attitudes of two girls as they reached the end of another meaningless search. They continued to search, though, despite Nico having given up the minute they went through the 2018 section and still didn’t find anything. She was going to see her mission through until the end, and the end was nearing.

The two of them were now going through the documents in the last two filing cabinets, and Nico was growing more apprehensive by the minute. What happened if they didn’t find anything? Was this whole thing just going to lead her to another dead end?

“Wait a second,” Karolina said from beside Nico, halting the other girl’s worried thoughts. She pulled the paper in her hands all the way out from the middle of the drawer, running her fingers over it. “This paper doesn’t have any Braille on it at all. I can’t read it.”

A surge of hope ignited in Nico’s chest as she reached for the paper. “Let me see?”

Only for that hope to die two seconds later when Nico scanned the words on the paper to find that it was a list of vaccines that parishioners would need to be eligible for some mission trip. “Nothing. It’s about a stupid mission trip.”

“My parents used to go on mission trips a lot before my dad died,” Karolina said. “I remember going on them too. Read me the date on that paper?”

“It just says September 2006.” Nico read from the top of the sheet.

“That was before my mom had the Braille printer,” Karolina explained. “I was only four years old then.”

Nico felt along the tops of the papers in the drawer she was searching. “Here, the papers in my drawer have Braille on them. We can switch.”

“Okay.” Karolina scooted closer to Nico.

Taking Karolina’s hand in hers, Nico placed it on the last file that she had looked over, allowing the blonde to pick up exactly where she had left off.

Nico moved over to the drawer that Karolina had been searching and flipped through the documents to find the place where the Braille stopped. She remembered the general vicinity that Karolina had pulled her document from, and it didn’t take her long to find its rightful place and slide it back in.

There was a significant time gap in between the documents with Braille writing and the ones without, which surprised Nico. Leslie had clearly stopped filing in late 2006 and hadn’t picked up again until 2008. Was it because she had been mourning the loss of her husband, or had something more sinister been going on? Had Leslie gotten rid of the files because they had something to do with whatever had been happening to those missing kids?

Multiple documents went by without anything interesting. Nico went through the entirety of 2005 and 2006, moving from one drawer to the next, and she was about ready to give up. There wasn’t going to be anything suspicious back in 2004 when the Church couldn’t have started disappearing kids before 2007. The criminal stuff had to have started in 2007, the year there was conveniently no record of, which meant that Leslie had most likely gotten rid of each and every document from that year after Amy had undoubtedly found them.

Nico almost called off the search for the night, thinking that her time would be much better spent hanging out with Karolina in her room. But she supposed she should at least finish the drawer she had been going through first. She didn’t want Karolina to think she no longer cared about what had happened to her sister.

Several pages later, Nico pulled out a sheet of paper titled _The Staff of One_ , and she felt a wave of dizziness go through her at the sight. The Staff of One was what Amy had called the strange relic that she had thrust into Nico’s hands with barely an explanation the night she died.

“I found something,” Nico said, excitement fluttering through her stomach.

“About Amy?” Karolina immediately turned her attention to Nico.

“No. About the Staff of One,” Nico said.

She had never referred to the Staff by name before around Karolina, but she wanted to see if the other girl knew what it was. She wanted to make sure it wasn’t some well-known artifact in their religion before she implied that Amy might have been killed for stealing it. The confusion that was present on Karolina’s face, though, showed that she knew nothing about it.

“What’s the Staff of One?”

“The artifact that Amy stole from the Church the night she died. Remember? All she really said was that it was magic, but I’m holding a paper right now that might finally explain to us exactly what it does. That’s something, right?”

“And you think this was why Amy was killed?” Karolina asked. “For stealing this…staff?”

“I really don’t know.” Nico sighed. “It would make sense, though. I mean, the Church was pissed off that she stole it. They searched our entire school the next day, went through everyone’s bags and lockers, on the grounds that a very important item had been stolen. I guess they were hoping I’d be dumb enough to bring it to school, but the funny thing is, the principal led the search. I never actually saw Leslie or anyone from the Church at all.”

“Almost like it could’ve been someone going behind my mom’s back,” Karolina said.

“It’s possible,” Nico agreed. If Leslie had lost something, wouldn’t she have wanted to search for it herself? It wasn’t like she could get in trouble with her higher ups when she was the higher up. Then again, nobody in her Church seemed to know about this item, so maybe she didn’t want to link herself to it in any way.

“Why didn’t this person have your house searched?”

“If they searched the house, they would’ve had to claim that Amy had stolen the item, which would make them the prime suspect in her murder. They couldn’t risk it. Better to let everyone think she had been hit by a drunk driver and move on.”

“That makes sense,” Karolina said. “So what does the Staff of One do?”

Nico looked back down at the paper in her hands, almost having forgotten that she was holding it as she discussed possibilities with Karolina. A drawing of the very Staff that was currently in her closet stared back up at her from the page. “‘It was told to me that the Staff of One is an item of great and terrible power. It carries an ancient magic that predates time itself. Legend has it that it was given to humanity by an angel who felt bad that humans had all been cast out of paradise for a sin that wasn’t theirs. As we don’t believe in Catholicism here in the Church of Gibborim, we are unaware of its actual origin.’”

“Did my mom write this?” Karolina asked, interrupting Nico as she read.

Quickly scanning the page, Nico’s eyes landed on the letters at the very bottom. LED. “It has her initials on the bottom, just like the rest of the documents in here.”

“So she knew about the Staff,” Karolina said, sounding disappointed and hurt, “and she never told me.”

“Hey.” Nico grabbed Karolina’s free hand, the other one still holding her place in the filing cabinet, and squeezed. “This doesn’t prove anything. Just because she knows about the Staff of One doesn’t mean she was the one who went after Amy for stealing it. Let’s just focus on the fact that we finally found something because I was getting pretty sure that there wasn’t anything in here at all.”

“You’re right.” Karolina squeezed Nico’s hand back, a tiny smile beginning to turn up the corners of her mouth again. “Keep reading.”

“‘During the last mission trip to Haiti, I received the Staff of One from an old man who lived in one of the villages in exchange for the good deeds of the Church. He told me that the Staff only works for those who believe in its power, but its power is vast. It supposedly responds to any verbal command with some sort of magic, but each command can only be used once, so he told me to choose my words wisely. It sure is a pretty reminder of the trip and will be kept as such, but I know it possesses no magic. My father taught that the only true magic comes from the Spectrum itself, but no one has ever been lucky enough to see it in full.’”

Nico stopped speaking as she came to the end of the document. The two girls were silent for a moment as they processed the information. If Leslie didn’t believe in the power of the Staff, was it possible that someone else had gotten their hands on it? Did Leslie even know about what had been going on in her Church at all? Nico wished Amy had told her more that night, that she had mentioned a name or something, any clue as to who she had seen with the Staff and why she had found it so important to steal it.

Karolina moved her hand from where it had been holding her place in the filing cabinet, letting the documents flow back together. Clearly, this find was big enough for the night.

“Do you think she was right?” she asked, bringing up a possibility that Nico hadn’t even considered. “Have you ever actually seen this Staff exhibit any sort of magic abilities?”

“I haven’t,” Nico admitted. “I’ve honestly been afraid to even touch it much.”

“Then maybe my mom was right.” Karolina shrugged. “Maybe all that talk of magic was just the ramblings of a madman who had gone too long without food and a proper place to live.”

“No.” Nico was already shaking her head. She had considered the possibility for a moment, but a moment had been long enough. “That Staff has to be magic. I know it. Amy stole it for a reason, and she told me herself that it was magic. How would she have known that if she hadn’t seen someone perform a spell with it?”

“Maybe she found this same exact paper and overreacted,” Karolina suggested.

“If it wasn’t magic and it was just a reminder of some mission trip, then no one would’ve even cared that it was stolen, though.”

“And maybe Amy’s death really had nothing to do with the Church at all. Maybe she really was hit by a drunk driver and the fact that it was on the same night that she stole the Staff was only a coincidence.”

“Karolina, please,” Nico said, “even you have to be able to hear how far-fetched that sounds.”

“Okay,” Karolina finally relented with a sigh, “you might be in the possession of a magic staff.”

“Thank you,” Nico said, unable to keep a small smile off her face at their banter.

“I’m just scared,” Karolina admitted, causing Nico’s smile to fade again. “What if my mom never even knew this was going on at all? What if the person responsible is still a member of the Church and somehow finds out that we know what happened?”

“Well, we don’t know exactly what happened,” Nico pointed out. “We don’t know who this person is, and we have no clue what they wanted with the Staff. But they also have no way of knowing that we’re even onto them at all. You’re safe right now. I promise.”

Karolina nodded, accepting Nico’s comfort, and Nico was relieved to see that the fear in her blue eyes had dissipated, replaced by warmth. However dangerous this search for information might prove to be in the future, they were safe for now, Nico was sure of it.

Karolina reached up for Nico’s cheek, and Nico helped to guide her hand to its destination, sighing in delight at the touch. She didn’t say anything else, not wanting to break the moment as Karolina ran her hand along Nico’s cheek for a few seconds before brushing her thumb over Nico’s lips.

After a moment, she leaned in to kiss Nico, and the other girl eagerly accepted it. Nico still hadn’t tired of the feeling of Karolina’s lips on hers, not even a little bit. She placed her hands gently on Karolina’s waist as she deepened the kiss, content to lose herself in the feeling and leave all of her uncertainties and troubled thoughts behind.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gert and Molly overhear a certain conversation between Nico and Chase

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has continued to read this story and show support by leaving comments and kudos. I really appreciate all of you!

Nico had never been more excited to get to school. The minute she had returned to her house the previous night, she’d immediately wanted to try out a spell with the Staff of One. Magic had always intrigued her, as she had always been interested in Wicca, and she found it hard, even this morning, not to touch the powerful Staff.

She couldn’t try anything, though. If something went wrong, she wanted someone there in the room with her who could do something before it was too late. Which was why she was even more excited to get to school this morning than she had been even when she had first stumbled upon the mirror writing that had started this whole thing.

She was lazy with her makeup routine this morning, wearing less makeup than she had since before Amy died. She knew it would raise questions from her parents, but she didn’t really care. She needed to get to school as soon as she could.

After shooting a quick text to Chase, asking him to be at school early, she hurried out of her room and scarfed down her breakfast faster than she ever had in her life. By the time she had finished eating, her parents, who were sitting at the bar, were watching her worriedly.

“Usually, you take forever eating breakfast because you’re in no rush to get to school,” Robert commented as Nico rinsed her bowl out in the sink.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you eat breakfast without your earbuds in for months,” Tina added.

“Just have to be at school early. I promised Gert that I’d go to one of her club meetings, and I don’t want to be late,” Nico lied, not even missing a beat.

“I’ve never seen you so excited to overthrow the patriarchy before,” Tina said, her worried expression replaced by a knowing smile.

“Funny that Gert’s holding a club meeting before school,” Robert said, feigning oblivion. “I could have sworn that Dale told me Gert’s club met after school.”

_Damn. I’ve got to get better at this whole lying thing._ Why couldn’t she have come up with something that actually excited her?

She didn’t respond to either of her parents, not wanting to dig herself into an even deeper hole. Nico figured that the best thing she could do right now would be to leave the room before they questioned her further, but her mother spoke again before she could even put her bowl into the dishwasher.

“This wouldn’t have anything to do with that girl you like, would it?”

For once, Nico’s parents were wrong about the reason for her lying. Her lying had nothing to do with Karolina at all and everything to do with a certain Staff that was stashed away in her closet. She didn’t want to risk saying anything, though. Better to let them think that she was simply excited to go see her mythical school crush.

“Did you ask her out?” Robert pressed, taking Nico’s silence as confirmation that Tina’s suspicions had been correct. “Did she ask you out?”

“Something like that.” Nico placed her bowl in the dishwasher and left the room before her parents could push any further. She couldn’t stop herself from smiling, though.

She snuck a quick glance back at her parents through the mirror in the hallway to see that they were also smiling. They knew about her and Karolina. Nico tried her best not to be embarrassed. They didn’t even know Karolina’s name or anything about her. It still made Nico feel vulnerable, though, in a way she didn’t like. She had never been with anyone before, and it was weird that her parents already knew that she and Karolina were dating, even though they hadn’t been together for more than a week. It was better for them to know about that, she supposed, than for them to know about the magical Staff she was hiding in her bedroom.

On the ride to school, Nico kept her earbuds in so she didn’t have to talk to her dad. She knew he was probably eager to ask her questions about the first person she’d ever dated, but she didn’t want to have to answer them right now. Her mind was somewhere else entirely.

She tried her best to focus on the music playing into her eardrums, to keep her excitement at bay, but her attempts were futile. She couldn’t wait to share her new discovery with Chase, and she certainly couldn’t wait to try out a magic spell for herself. It was all she could think about during the long drive that had always felt too short.

“Nico, wait.” Robert finally spoke as Nico turned to get out of the car.

She cursed internally. Sure, she had seen the small smiles her dad had been sending her way every now and then during the ride, but she had been hoping he would leave her alone for now.

Hand pausing on the door handle, Nico took one earbud out and turned back to her dad, raising an eyebrow again to let him know that he could continue if he must.

“I won’t ask you to talk anymore about the girl you like, okay? I know that you’ll come to me and your mom when you’re ready to tell us about her. We’re just…really glad to see you so happy again.”

_You haven’t been this happy since before Amy died._ The words Robert left unsaid rang through Nico’s head all the same.

Right after Amy died, Nico had thought she would never be happy again, but with each day that passed, she was slowly finding her way to a new happy. With each supportive look from Chase. With each gentle smile from Molly. Even with each offended remark from Gert. It wasn’t the same without Amy, but Nico was still surrounded by plenty of people who loved her and who she loved too.

“Thanks, Dad,” she replied, leaning over to give him a hug.

As she squeezed her dad tighter, she knew that she had her parents too. It might have been hard to be around them after Amy had died, hard to even be in her house anymore without it feeling incredibly wrong, but she had gotten through it the best she could, and she had no doubt that they loved her.

After bidding her dad goodbye, Nico hurried down the hallways and to her locker, her excited smile dimming upon seeing that Chase wasn’t there yet. She quickly checked her phone to see a text from him promising that he would be there soon, so she busied herself with loading the books she had taken home for homework last night into her locker and exchanging them for the ones she needed for first period. She was so excited it felt like her stomach was tearing itself apart.

Chase arrived to find Nico standing beside their lockers with a wide grin, and she could tell by the look on his face that he was slightly concerned.

“You didn’t fill my locker with dirt or something, did you?” he asked warily.

“Nope.” Nico shook her head, her smile never wavering. “I found something last night at the Church.”

“You did?!” Chase’s worried look was gone, his brown eyes now mirroring Nico’s excitement. “What?”

“You remember that thing Amy gave me the night she died? The Staff of One?”

Chase’s only response was a quick nod.

“Everything she said about it is true. It has magic powers. Karolina and I found this document last night that explained everything, where it came from, what it does, how to use it, all of it.”

“Do you have it? The document, I mean.”

Nico shook her head. “I couldn’t risk taking it. Leslie might go looking for it, and I can’t chance her noticing it’s gone.”

“Then explain it to me. What does it do?”

“What does what do?” said a voice from beside them.

Nico nearly jumped out of her skin as she turned to find Gert and Molly watching her and Chase from a few feet away. In all the excitement of the morning, Nico hadn’t even noticed the two girls approaching. She knew from the curious look in Molly’s eyes and the way Gert was standing with her hands on her hips that they had heard more than just Chase asking what the Staff did. She chastised herself. Why couldn’t she have been more careful?

“Nothing important,” Chase lied, clearly not picking up on the fact that the girls had already heard too much. “Just some old game that Nico found in Amy’s room.”

“Oh, really?” Gert asked, using the same sardonic tone she had used in her previous question. “Please tell me, what does Leslie Dean have to do with this unimportant game? I’m truly interested to hear that.”

“It’s this weird Gibborim simulation game—” Nico elbowed Chase in the side to cut him off. This was already embarrassing enough as it was, and she knew the more they lied, the angrier Gert would get.

“You’ve been sneaking into the Church of Gibborim,” Gert said, sounding sure of herself. “I can’t believe you lied to me. I thought you said it was too dangerous.”

“It _is_ dangerous,” Nico said. “I lied to you because I didn’t want you to get involved in something that might get you killed.”

“Wait, what?” Molly asked at the same time Gert asked, “Then why does Chase get to know?”

“Because I asked him to come with me the first time I ever went, but he said it was too dangerous, so I went myself.”

“So you haven’t been sneaking into the Church?” Gert turned her narrowed eyes on Chase.

“If you don’t count the time he followed me there, even though I specifically asked him _not_ to,” Nico said, shooting an annoyed look at Chase.

“I was worried about you.” Chase was quick to defend himself. “What kind of friend would I be if I let you go all by yourself to meet up with Leslie Dean’s _daughter_ when you knew as well as I did that it could’ve been a trap?”

“Because Leslie Dean’s _daughter_ was lonely, and you didn’t know a damn thing about her,” Nico shot back.

“Oh, please.” Chase scoffed. “You went back there because you have a crush on her, and there was no way I was going to let you walk right into a trap because of that.”

“If you don’t stop making jabs at me in front of our friends, you’re going to wish I had walked into a trap that night.”

Chase only smirked at Nico, which infuriated her more, but she let it go. It wasn’t really him she was angry at; she was angry at her inability to keep anything a secret. She should’ve paid more attention to her surroundings that morning or pulled Chase into the janitor’s closet to talk. She didn’t have anyone to blame but herself for what was happening right now.

The sound of laughter drew Nico’s gaze away from Chase and to Molly as the younger girl watched the pair bicker. Gert was standing beside her with attentive eyes, probably trying to file away every piece of new information she had learned during Nico’s argument with Chase.

“So Leslie’s daughter is helping you take down her mom?” Gert asked.

“She’s helping me find out who might have killed Amy,” Nico clarified. “She doesn’t think her mom is responsible, but she agrees that it could’ve been someone else in the Church. I don’t even know for sure that Leslie was the one who did it.”

“So you found something last night in Leslie’s office,” Gert deduced.

“Yes. The night she died, Amy gave me something called the Staff of One, and we found a paper that explains exactly what it does.”

“And you have this Staff right now?” Gert asked, a spark of excitement lighting in her eyes, as the final bell rang overhead.

“Yeah, I do. Listen, you guys can all come over to my house after school, and I’ll explain to you what’s been going on, but we need to get to class right now. And we need to pretend that nothing weird is going on at all.”

Nico emphasized the last part with a pointed look at Molly. When Molly was nine, Nico had told her she was bisexual, and the whole school knew about it by the end of the day. Nico hadn’t really minded then, but she couldn’t have this new information getting out. If anyone else heard about this, they could all be in trouble.

“All right, all right,” Molly said, rolling her eyes before her familiar smile reappeared, “but Leslie Dean’s daughter, huh? That’s the girl you have a crush on?”

“You got Nico to admit she has a crush on someone?” Gert turned to her sister with a slightly hurt look.

Molly shrugged. “Not exactly.”

Gert playfully hit the younger girl’s arm. “Molly, that’s huge.”

“I didn’t think Nico wanted anyone to know,” Molly said with a pointed look at Nico.

_Point taken._

“Did you take my advice and ask her out?” Molly asked.

“Later,” Nico promised, not wanting to get into the details of her and Karolina right now.

Luckily, no one argued with her, only nodding at each other in silent acknowledgements of Nico’s promise to share information after school. As Nico turned to walk to her first period class, though, her stomach filled with dread. She was going to have to tell Gert and Molly everything.

 

* * *

 

All throughout the school day, Nico thought about what she was going to say to her friends. She kept imagining speeches in her head, editing and revising details over and over again until she finally had what she thought was the perfect spiel. She memorized it down to the last word, wanting this afternoon to go as smoothly as possible.

Now that she was in her room, though, seated atop her bed with Molly perched on the end of it and Gert standing beside her sister, Nico forgot everything that she had wanted to say. She didn’t even know where to begin, but it didn’t matter. What she had planned to say had probably been garbage anyway.

Gert raised an impatient eyebrow at Nico while she waited, and Nico tried to find the right words to say.

“Well, a couple of weeks ago, Nico pulled me into the janitor’s closet because she found something in Amy’s room.” Chase broke the silence from his seat in Nico’s vanity chair.

“They already know that part, dumbass.” Nico rolled her eyes at him. “Will you let me tell the story, please?”

“Only if you start telling it,” Chase responded with a teasing look.

“The alarm code for the Church of Gibborim wasn’t the only thing I found written on Amy’s mirror,” Nico began. “She also wrote about…”

“She also wrote about what?” Gert prompted the moment Nico paused.

“Eleven teenagers have gone missing from the Church, and it looks like it happens every year.”

Molly’s eyes widened in shock. “They’re killing people?”

“We don’t know anything for sure,” Nico admitted, “but it sure as hell looks like it.”

“So she came and told me what she found,” Chase butted in with a playful glare at his best friend, “like I was saying before. Then she told me that she was going to break into the Church of Gibborim, so naturally I told her that she was insane.”

“You did not.” Nico threw a pillow at him. “You tried to stop me.”

“Okay, I tried to stop you,” Chase relented, ducking out of the way. “Not that my efforts had any effect on you.”

“So you just let her go by herself?” Gert asked disapprovingly.

“There was definitely no stopping her, and I was scared,” Chase said defensively. “Amy was killed for messing around with this stuff, Gert.”

“Okay, okay, continue,” Gert said, turning her focus back to Nico.

“I snuck into the Church that night and got caught by Leslie Dean’s daughter almost immediately. It didn’t take me long to realize that she’s blind, and I thought about running away, but she was glowing and flying, and I was way too intrigued to just leave.”

“She glows and flies?” Gert arched an eyebrow skeptically.

“I know it sounds crazy, but I’ve seen it,” Chase said. “I followed Nico there the next night, and she’s not making it up. This girl can fly, and her skin lights up like a rainbow.”

“She says her mom has the same powers, so it must be genetic.” Nico shrugged. “They obviously don’t glow all the time, though. Those Gibborim bracelets inhibit their powers.”

“Maybe they’re some kind of aliens,” Molly said with wide eyes.

“Aliens aren’t real, Molly.” Gert rolled her eyes. “Everyone knows that.”

“Whatever they are, I’m not sure they’re fully human,” Nico said tentatively.

It was a thought that had crossed Nico’s mind multiple times before, but she had always pushed it away. What if Karolina wasn’t human? Would that bother Nico?

“So you’re crushing on this girl who might not even actually _be_ a girl?” Gert crossed her arms, her disapproving look telling Nico exactly what she thought of that.

“Even if she isn’t human, it’s not her fault.” Nico immediately jumped to Karolina’s defense. Hearing Gert sound so critical of the girl she was crushing on told Nico that she didn’t care at all what Karolina was. She wanted to be with her, no matter what. “Her mother raised her to believe she’s human, which makes her no different than us. Mentally, at least.”

“Okay, you like her, and I support that,” Molly interjected before Gert could take the argument any farther. “How did you get her to agree to help you, though? She’s helping you go through her mom’s stuff, right?”

“Yeah, she is, but I don’t really know the reason why,” Nico admitted. “It could be because she lost her dad, so she knows what it feels like to lose someone. It could also be because she’s suspicious that her mom has been lying to her about something, and she wants to know the truth. I think she’s just really caring, though. She cares about everyone, even people she doesn’t know, because that’s who she is. She didn’t need to know me to care about me. And I care about her too.”

“So would we, if you’d let us,” Chase said pointedly, and Molly nodded eagerly in agreement.

“Chase, you know I—” Nico began to respond, but Gert cut her off, still looking annoyed.

“You obviously found something out about that Staff of One thing. What was it?”

“Leslie got the Staff from some man on a mission trip over ten years ago, and he told her that it was magical. She didn’t believe in its power, at that time at least, so it wouldn’t work for her, but apparently, you just say a spell, and the Staff will cast it.”

“And Leslie, or maybe even someone else, must’ve learned that.” Gert was nodding now, the hints of the first smile Nico had seen from her all day pulling up the corners of her lips. “And Amy saw the Staff in action. She must’ve hidden somewhere until she got the chance to steal it.”

“And then she stole it,” Nico finished for her.

“Well, where is it now?” Gert asked with an excited smile on her face. “Can we try out a spell?”

“Is that really the best idea?” Chase asked. “There are still so many things we don’t know about the Staff, so many things that we have no way of knowing. It could be dangerous.”

“Seriously, Chase?” Gert’s smile turned back into a frown. “You say a spell, and the Staff casts it. What more is there to know than that? It’s only dangerous if we make it dangerous.”

“Okay, fine.” Chase gestured to the closet. “Go ahead and bring it out, Nico.”

Nico didn’t move. Now that she was finally faced with the opportunity to use the infinite power of the Staff of One, she realized she was still afraid of it. She didn’t doubt its power for a second. She knew that it did exactly what that old man had told Leslie it did. Who was Nico to use such a powerful object?

_Those kids are dead, aren’t they? And the Staff of One is why no trace of them has ever been found._

“Nico, are you okay?” Molly asked, drawing Nico out of her thoughts.

“I’m fine. But are we sure this is a good idea?” Nico asked, voicing her doubts aloud.

The minute she said it, though, she knew. She wanted to use that Staff. She wanted to see how it worked, if its powers were actually real. Magic had always seemed to call to Nico, and now that she finally had the possibility at her fingertips, Nico thought that maybe she was more afraid that the Staff wouldn’t turn out to be magical at all than of any negative effects that casting a spell with it might have.

“You don’t have to do anything if you don’t want to,” Chase told her. “No one is forcing you.”

“No, I want to do this,” Nico said before anyone could say anything else, sure of herself.

Three pairs of eyes watched as Nico walked to the closet to retrieve the Staff of One: one pair eager, one pair worried, and the last pair intrigued. Nico’s own eyes were determined as she reached for the shoebox at the back of her closet, bringing it out and setting it atop her bed before opening it up and retrieving the Staff.

As she turned back to her friends, the Staff extended, reaching all the way down to the ground. Electricity arced through the center of the circular top.

Four pairs of eyes widened in surprise at the sight, Nico’s quickly turning to excitement. The old man from Haiti had been telling the truth. The Staff of One was magical.

“What should I ask it to do?” Nico asked, her mind blanking as endless possibilities opened up in front of her.

“Make me some ice cream,” Molly said excitedly.

Gert shot her sister an incredulous look. “Ice cream, Molly? We have a staff here that can do anything we want it to, and your first thought is ice cream?”

“You said to start safe,” Molly said, “and I’m hungry.”

“ _I scream for ice cream_ ,” Nico said.

She had no idea why those particular words had come to mind. All she knew was that holding the Staff felt natural to her, and when she had thought of conjuring up some ice cream for Molly, those words had come out of her mouth before she’d really had time to think about them.

Before anyone had a chance to question Nico’s strange choice of words, a vanilla ice cream cone appeared in Molly’s hand, and she held up the treat with a wide grin.

“It worked!” she exclaimed.

“And it’s…real ice cream?” Gert asked, looking skeptical again.

“What else would it be? Poison?” Gert nodded, and Molly rolled her eyes before giving the ice cream a few experimental licks. “Tastes fine to me. Perfect actually.”

“How did you know what to say, Nico?” Chase asked.

“I don’t know,” Nico admitted honestly. “Molly asked for ice cream, and those were the first words that popped into my head.”

“Do another,” Molly said as she continued to eat her ice cream.

“I think that’s enough for one day,” Nico said, placing the Staff back on top of its box. The minute she let go of it, it retracted back to its original length so that it fit right back where it had before. “I don’t want to mess with it too much right now. We’ve seen proof that it’s magical, and that’s what matters.”

“Do you think the Staff is how Leslie, or whoever, has been getting away with killing those kids?” Gert asked the question that was on everyone’s mind, and Nico nodded.

 “It makes sense, doesn’t it? The Staff could literally disintegrate the bodies or make them disappear or something.”

“But why? Why even kill in the first place?”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out.” Nico sighed. “There are still more papers in Leslie’s office to go through. Karolina and I will keep looking.”

“You’ll have time for that in between kisses then?” Chase asked with a smirk, and Nico shot him a glare. She had really been hoping she could keep the fact that she’d kissed Karolina a secret until it wasn’t possible anymore. Telling Chase about it was one thing. But telling the others? She didn’t really want anyone else to know, especially not people who knew who Karolina was.

“You kissed Leslie’s daughter?” Gert asked at the same time that Molly said, “She likes you back? And you didn’t tell me?”

“I didn’t tell you because I’m still embarrassed to talk about my feelings,” Nico said reluctantly. “I kissed her the night of your first date actually.” Nico gestured to Gert and Chase. “Earlier that day, Molly had told me to go for it, and I couldn’t get her words out of my head, so I just leaned over and kissed Karolina, and long story short, we’re together now.”

“Okay, that’s actually really sweet,” Gert admitted, a warm smile on her face.

“I knew I was right,” Molly added with a smug look.

“Okay, so you officially know everything that I know,” Nico said, glad that conversation was finally behind her. “Are we good now?”

Molly gave a happy nod, but Gert didn’t look convinced.

“We’re good on one condition,” she said.

“And what’s that?” Nico asked, not sure she wanted to know the answer.

“You take me and Molly to meet Karolina in person.”

Nico froze. She hadn’t even considered the fact that her friends might want to meet Karolina after this. She had no idea if Karolina would even want to meet them, and she certainly didn’t want them to see how soft she became around the blonde. No one needed to see what Nico looked like when she had a crush, no one other than Karolina at least.

Gert kept her arms crossed and her stare determined as she waited for Nico to respond. She was serious about this. Even Molly was nodding eagerly with a pleading look on her face.

Nico looked to Chase for help, but he immediately held up his hands in surrender. He knew there was no point in arguing with Gert. Once that girl made up her mind about something, she didn’t budge. Nico was on her own.

Unfortunately, Nico knew as well as Chase did that there was no point in arguing with her purple-haired friend.

“Fine.” Nico sighed. “I’ll take you to meet Karolina.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico and Karolina share information about their pasts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the longer wait on this chapter, you guys! This was just a harder chapter for me to get out on the page for some reason, and I got really into reading The Darkest Minds, so I kind of let my writing time diminish a bit, not to mention I started working on another fan fiction with my girlfriend that we'll probably be posting in a couple weeks. I'll be going back to updating this story about once a week now, though, so I'm sorry for the delay. I hope you guys enjoy this new chapter!

Nico had been with Karolina for the better part of an hour now, and she hadn't said a word about Gert and Molly. She knew she needed to tell Karolina that her friends wanted to meet her, but she really wished she didn't. She didn't want her friends meeting the girl she liked so soon, and she certainly didn't want Karolina to feel like she had to meet them. Nico had no idea how her question would go over, so instead of asking it when she arrived, as she had intended to, Nico had instead asked if they could make out.

Making out proved to be a great distraction, as Karolina had readily agreed to Nico's suggestion, and Nico's nerves about Gert and Molly had settled down slightly as her tongue danced with Karolina's. Her heart was racing for an entirely different reason now, although her anxiety over the topic was starting to come back the longer she went without addressing it.

"You're acting weird today," Karolina commented when they parted for air, fingers still tangled in Nico's hair. "You sounded really nervous earlier, and we never make out for this long without talking in between."

"You're right," Nico said, taking a deep breath. She knew she could no longer put off telling Karolina about the events of the day. "Gert and Molly asked to meet you today."

Karolina pulled back a little, but Nico could tell from one look at her face that she was more confused than surprised. "Gert and Molly? I thought you weren't telling them about any of this."

"I didn't want to." Nico let out a long sigh. "They overheard me talking to Chase about the Staff of One this morning, so I had to tell them."

"And how'd they take it?" Karolina began to absentmindedly comb her fingers through Nico's hair.

Nico relaxed a bit at the feeling. "They were mainly excited because I tried out the Staff of One with them today, and it worked."

"So it really is magic," Karolina said, excitement in her blue eyes.

"Yeah," Nico said, wringing her hands nervously in her lap, "but about Gert and Molly. What should I tell them?"

Karolina was silent for a few moments, and Nico began to regret ever asking in the first place. It was a stupid question. Of course Karolina wouldn't want to meet them. Nico should never have agreed with Gert's condition in the first place.

"Does tomorrow work?" Karolina finally answered.

"I know, I'm sorry I asked," Nico began before she realized what Karolina had said. "Wait, you seriously want to meet them?"

"They're your friends." Karolina shrugged. "Of course I want to meet them."

No hesitation showed on Karolina's face as Nico scanned it, nor did her lights seem to dim, but Nico was still suspicious. "What about that one time that Chase followed me here? You were clearly uncomfortable then."

"Because I had only talked to you once," Karolina said with a laugh. "I didn't know anything about you or your friends, but you've told me so much about them now that I feel like I kind of already know them."

"Are you sure? I don't want you to feel like anyone is forcing you to do something you don't want to do."

"I don't feel like that, I promise. I really do want to meet your friends. Now, will you come lie down with me? I wanna hold you." Karolina backed up on the bed that they were both sitting on, feeling behind her to make sure of her position before lowering herself onto the pillows and pulling Nico with her.

Nico easily complied, lying her head on Karolina's chest and smiling when she felt Karolina's hand feel for her back before coming to rest around her shoulders. They fell into an easy silence, and Nico felt as if a weight had been lifted off of her. She had been afraid that she would be doomed to disappoint her friends with Karolina's rejection, but now she had asked the question, and it seemed that things had worked out in her favor for tonight. Now, she could just relax against her girlfriend and enjoy the peace that came with being with her.

"Hey, Nico?" Karolina was the one to finally break the silence after several minutes had gone by. "How did you meet Gert and Molly? Did they know Amy?"

Nico hoped that Karolina hadn't noticed the way that her arm, which had previously been lazily thrown across Karolina's waist, had tensed at the mention of Amy, but she knew that the other girl probably had.

Everyone knew not to talk to Nico about Amy, not like that, not unless the situation really, truly called for it. Ever since her sister had died, Nico had been trying her best to live in the present, to let go of the past. While she knew that avoiding any thought of Amy wasn't the right way to move on, it was the only way that seemed to work. She had told Karolina a lot about her life and her friends, but she never talked about Amy, and she knew that the blonde was growing curious about the girl whose murder they had been trying to solve for the past two weeks. And she deserved to know. Karolina deserved to know about Nico and, therefore, Amy.

"Believe me, I want to tell you more about Amy," Nico said after several seconds had passed in silence, "but I haven't really tried to talk about her in a while, and it'll be…difficult for me."

"Then, I'll go first," Karolina said easily. "My favorite memory of my dad was playing hide and seek with him on a mission trip when I got particularly bored. I wasn't the best at hiding, so he found me pretty quickly, but I ran off the minute he saw me, and he chased me around the entire area where we were building homes. I was so happy that day."

"What was he like?" Nico asked, curious to know more about this man who had been taken from Karolina, as Amy had been taken from Nico.

"My dad? He was the kindest man I've ever known. I don't remember too much about him because I was only four when he died, but I remember that he always used to say that, because we were blessed enough to be able to live safely and comfortably, our purpose was to make sure that others could too. I've never seen anyone with as much light inside of them as my dad had."

"It sounds like you two were pretty close." Nico shifted slightly on the bed. She was afraid that she was making Karolina uncomfortable by continuing the topic of discussion for this long, but the girl seemed happy to talk about her father. She clearly adored him, even now.

"He was my best friend," Karolina said, and Nico wondered how she was able to talk about him without feeling any sort of pain. "He was usually the one who looked after me because it was harder for my mom to step away from her Church duties. My dad and I did pretty much everything together. All of my earliest memories are of him."

Nico wanted to ask what had happened to him, but she wasn't sure she should. Ruining the blonde's good mood wasn't worth satisfying her curiosity. She could ask about it some other night.

"I was almost five when he died," Karolina continued, almost as if she had picked up on Nico's curiosity. "He was on vacation with my mom in New York, and he was shot and killed during a robbery at a restaurant that they were eating at one night. At first, I didn't really understand what had happened when my mom came back from that trip alone. She told me that my dad was gone, and he was never coming back, but I didn't believe her. In my experience, whenever my dad went away, he always came back at some point. So I resolved to wait for him."

"It really hurt me when he didn't come back for my fifth birthday." Karolina's lights dimmed as she continued to speak, but they didn't go out completely. "My mom tried to throw me a good party, but it was clear that her heart wasn't all in it either. At the time, I thought she was disappointed in him for missing it, like I was, but now I know."

"I'm so sorry, Karolina," Nico said honestly, wishing that she could go back in time and take away that little five-year-old girl's pain.

"It's okay now, Nico. It's been a long time since then," Karolina said before continuing. "After the party, my mom drew into herself a lot more. I spent more time with my grandfather than I ever remember spending before then or since. Then, I got sick. The meningitis that blinded me. I don't remember much about it because I was so young, but I know that my mom blames herself for my sight loss. She thinks that if she would've spent more time with me and taken me to the doctor the minute I got sick rather than dismissing my illness as a cold until it started getting worse, she could've prevented my blindness, or at least given me a chance to recover from it. She always says it's her biggest regret, but can you blame her? My dad was dead."

"Yes, your dad was dead, Karolina. Your dad," Nico emphasized. "Your mom should've been there for you because it was her job as a mother. You didn't deserve to go through that alone."

"She made up for it afterwards, though." Karolina immediately defended her mother. "When I lost my sight, my mom barely left my side for a moment. She helped me learn the layout of our house and the Church, and she helped me to read and do other simple tasks for myself. She's the reason I'm able to do everything for myself nowadays, and I am so grateful for that."

"But she won't let you go to school or have friends," Nico pointed out.

"For a long time, I didn't want to go to school," Karolina admitted. "It was easier for me to learn with one-on-one time from my tutor, and I was friends with the other kids in the Church. I even had a best friend once, Angela, and we played together all the time at the elementary school age. We loved making bracelets together, and she used my mom's Braille printer to label the different sections of beads so that I would be able to tell the difference between the colors and shapes too. My mom let me go over to her house sometimes, and even though we were never supposed to leave the house, Angela's parent may have taken me out to eat a couple of times. Anyway, I didn't really care about going to school until Angela and I started drifting apart because classes were getting harder and she made the school soccer team. I was twelve the first time I asked my mom if I could go to school, and when she said no, I didn't really fight her."

For the first time, Nico realized that Karolina had stayed in the Church of Gibborim all this time because she wanted to. She had never really wanted to leave because she was afraid she'd be uncomfortable in the outside world after having been apart from it for so long. Even now, despite her strong desire to go to school, Nico wasn't sure that Karolina was really as ready to leave behind her sheltered lifestyle as she seemed.

"I never thought about it like that before," Nico admitted. "I always thought that anyone who didn't go to school would want to eventually, but I guess that's because it's all I've ever known. I've been going since I was two years old."

"Wow, that's really young," Karolina said, unable to hide her shock. "I didn't even know you could start school that early."

"Well, it only lasted for three hours, and it was only three days a week," Nico said. "My mom wanted to be able to work some, so she would work in the mornings while Amy and I were at school and watch us afterwards. I actually liked school when I was little like that, and Amy and I both liked knowing that the other was only a classroom away. We were both devastated when she had to go to kindergarten and I had to stay behind in preschool, but luckily that was when I met Chase and she met her own best friend Alex, so it worked out okay in the end."

"Will you tell me something about Amy?" Karolina asked tentatively, almost as if she was afraid that Nico would refuse to answer.

"She loved mysteries and stories. She was always making up her own mysteries for me and her to solve around the house, and I loved solving them with her so much. And when she got older, she really loved solving escape rooms, but I wasn't as good at those as I was at Amy's games. She also really loved video games, and so did Alex, so they would always be playing on their computers, or the Wii when we were younger. I liked some video games, but not many, so Chase and I would normally play with dinosaurs or cars or something else. Sometimes, I even got him to play Barbie dolls with me."

Karolina let out an amused laugh. "You don't strike me as someone who used to play with Barbies."

"You clearly don't understand the way we played," Nico said with a smirk.

"By the sound of your voice, I'm not sure I want to know, but I'll ask. How did you and Chase play Barbie dolls?"

"We mainly pretended they were soldiers and sent them into gruesome battles. We also had a lot of fun pushing them down the elevator shaft of the dream house."

"Now, that sounds more like the Nico I know," Karolina said with a smile. "Can I kiss you?"

"I tell you that Chase and I used to injure and kill our Barbie dolls, and your immediate thought is to want to kiss me? I don't know what that says about you, Karolina Dean, but yes, you can." Nico tilted her face up and allowed Karolina to feel for her lips, running her fingers across them to mark their position before leaning up and pressing her own lips to them. The kiss was chaste and lasted no more than five seconds, but it sent Nico's heart soaring again all the same.

"You can never tell Chase that I told you about that, though," Nico said once Karolina had pulled away. "He would literally kill me."

"Why?" Karolina asked. "He was only four."

"You think we suddenly stopped playing with that shit when we turned five?" Nico laid her head back down against Karolina's chest, marveling at how easy it was for her to talk about something that she had previously thought to be a sensitive topic. It actually felt like a relief to open up to Karolina about it now, almost as if her subconscious had been dying to talk about it for quite some time now.

"We didn't stop playing with toys until we were, like, twelve. In our defense, though, we also played video games. We all loved playing Nintendo DS, and Chase and I played Mario Kart with Alex and Amy on the Wii sometimes. I also got Chase to play Nintendogs with me, which is a game where you basically adopt puppies and take care of them, and he totally loved it, which he would also kill me for telling you."

"What happened to Alex then?" Karolina asked. "If you were all so close growing up, why don't you ever talk about him now? Did he move away?"

"No, he didn't." Nico sighed. She had feared this would come up eventually, but no amount of expectation could ever prepare her to talk about it. "He knows what Amy was up to here at the Church. He was working with her, and he might even know what she saw the night she died, but he won't tell me and Chase anything. He said he's protecting us by not telling us, but that's a load of bullshit. We're a family, and families don't keep secrets from each other, especially when they lose one of their own. So I told him he could talk to us again when he was ready to tell us everything he knew. And he never did."

"I'm sorry, Nico." Karolina rubbed Nico's arm soothingly, and Nico noticed that her lights had gone out.

Tears began to pool in the corners of Nico's eyes as she thought about Alex and Amy, and she tried her best to blink them away before they fell. Now that she had started reminiscing on the past again, she couldn't stop the memories from flying through her head in a whirlwind. The four of them sitting on the couch playing video games, arguing over who got to sit in the middle. The four of them staring intensely at their DS screens as they engaged in some battle or minigame, the only sound in the room being the music coming from their handheld devices. Hearing Alex and Amy's playful banter from their spot on the couch in front of the TV while Nico played with Chase in the corner. Racing to the table when it was lunchtime, each of them trying to get to the seat that had the best view of the TV screen as Tina watched from the kitchen with a warm smile. All of that was gone. Forever. It was never going to be like that again.

A tear finally slipped down Nico's cheek at the same time she sniffled, and she cursed herself for being so weak, for not being able to talk about Amy without crying when Karolina had just talked about her dad moments ago without shedding a single tear. She knew that Karolina wouldn't think any less of her because of it, but she couldn't stop herself from hating it all the same.

"How did you meet Gert and Molly?" Karolina asked.

"I talked to Gert for the first time in sixth grade," Nico said, smiling gratefully at the subject change. "She had overheard some boys talking about a girl in our class like she was some sort of prize to be won, and she wouldn't stop talking about how all men are pigs who can't have simple friendships with girls because they always want more. My best friend is a boy, so naturally I punched Gert in the face. And then I got sent to the principal's office and suspended for three days."

"An interesting start to a close friendship," Karolina remarked.

"When I got back to school, Gert was in my face again, angrier at me for insinuating that she was wrong than for punching her, I think. So I invited her to come hang out with me and Chase after school so she would see what a good guy he is. I'm not exaggerating when I say that it was one of the weirdest experiences either of us has ever had in our lives."

"What was so weird about it?"

"She didn't really play with us at all. She literally sat there and watched us play Animal Crossing for hours without saying a single word. When she got up to leave, Chase and I almost jumped out of our skins because we had forgotten she was even there. She told us that it was nice to see that a male and female could be friends without developing feelings for each other. And then she left. I honestly didn't expect her to ever talk to me again, but the next day, she sat next to me in class, and we've been friends ever since."

"Gert seems like a very interesting individual," Karolina commented. "I'm looking forward to meeting her."

"She's looking forward to meeting you too," Nico said. "Thank you, though, for changing the subject and not saying anything. I still get emotional when I talk about the past, and…I'm not the best at admitting it."

"I know," Karolina replied, "so thank you for opening up to me."

She reached out a hand near Nico's head, finding her long black hair and running her fingers through it. Nico leaned into the touch for a few moments, letting the gesture soothe her. She loved how Karolina seemed to know her so well already, and she thought herself extremely lucky for having met Karolina at all.

"Can I kiss you?" she asked. She always asked Karolina before kissing her because she didn't want to take the blonde by complete surprise with the gesture, not wanting to do anything that might make her uncomfortable.

"Of course," Karolina responded easily.

Leaning forward, Nico connected their lips once more, lingering longer this time. She poured all of her emotions for Karolina into the kiss, her gratitude for the other girl's gentle and caring demeanor and ability to understand exactly what Nico needed, and she hoped that Karolina could read them as easily as she could read Nico's feelings through her voice when she spoke.

Nico only pulled back when she noticed bright lights against the backs of her eyelids. Whenever Karolina's skin wasn't glowing, kissing Nico never failed to make her light up like a rainbow. Which in turn never failed to make Nico's heart melt, no matter how much she wanted to pretend that wasn't possible.

It was hard for Nico's brain to formulate words as she watched the lights move across Karolina's skin in beautiful swirls of color. She wondered if her girlfriend could feel her watching.

"You met Molly because she's Gert's sister, right?" Karolina finally broke the silence, picking up the conversation from where they had left off.

Nico laughed at the thought. "Yes, and she was so sweet. But the first time I met her was the first time I went over to Gert's house, and let me tell you, she wasn't exactly the one who made the strongest impression. Gert's parents, Dale and Stacey, are really something. They threw a party for Gert for making a new friend, and if I thought Gert's visit to my house was weird, I was in no way prepared to meet Dale and Stacey and the many, many animals that they experiment on in their basement."

As Nico talked about Dale and Stacey and her first visit to their house, she relaxed more and more, grateful for the easier topic of conversation. It was much easier to laugh and smile when telling a story that had nothing to do with anyone who was no longer a part of her life. As good as it had felt to finally talk about Amy again, she was glad the conversation was over.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gert and Molly meet Karolina, and the team discovers something new.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a fun chapter to write, so I hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Nervous energy radiated through Karolina the minute she heard the alarm go off that night, signifying that Nico and her friends had arrived. It was as if a wire had pulsed into her veins, and she could feel the electricity thrumming everywhere.

As she'd talked with Nico yesterday night, she had been fine with the prospect of meeting the other girl's friends, excited even. Now, though, she wasn't so sure. She cared a lot about the impression that she made on these people. She cared a lot about Nico.

What if Karolina said or did the wrong thing and made them regret even coming in the first place? Or worse, what if they hated her? What if Gert took one look at her and decided that she wasn't even worth getting to know? What if they all did?

The stream of anxious thoughts running through Karolina's mind was brought to an end by the sound of her door opening. She thought for a second that this was the moment she would finally meet the important people in Nico's life, but when she listened closely, she realized she could only hear one set of footsteps. Nico's, to be exact.

"Nico," Karolina greeted. "I thought your friends were coming with you tonight."

"They're waiting in the congregation area," Nico explained. "I told them I wanted a few minutes of alone time with you first, but really I just figured you'd be nervous."

The bed dipped beside Karolina as Nico sat next to her, and she could feel the comforting warmth of her girlfriend's body. She leaned into Nico and sighed as Nico's arm settled around her waist, her nerves calming slightly for the first time all night.

"You were right," she said after a few seconds of silence. "I am nervous."

"And I'm here to tell you that you don't have to be." Nico began rubbing Karolina's side reassuringly. "My friends are going to love you because they know that I care about you so, so much. There's nothing to be worried about, I promise."

Karolina relaxed even further at the easy tone of Nico's voice and tried her best not to blush at her words. She wasn't even glowing right now to hide it.

"I really care about you too," Karolina responded easily. "Which is why I'm nervous. I don't want to make a bad first impression on your friends."

"You won't. I promise. You're impossible to dislike." Nico grabbed the blonde's hand and squeezed it, and Karolina squeezed back in acknowledgement.

With that, Karolina felt the bed rise again and the cool air begin to hit her skin once more as Nico stood from the bed. As much as Karolina wanted to stay in this room forever and spend every single second of her time with Nico and only Nico, she felt a lot less anxious than she had before Nico had come into the room, and she was grateful that her girlfriend knew exactly what to do to make her feel better.

"Can I get a kiss for good luck?" she asked from where she remained on the bed.

"Sure." Nico pressed her lips to Karolina's for three beautiful seconds before she pulled away again, and Karolina had to resist the urge to reach out for her to keep her in place.

Karolina heard the sound of Nico's footsteps fading as Nico walked out the door. She fiddled with the bracelet she was wearing around her wrist. Preferably, she would keep it on all evening, and no one would know she was anything but a normal girl. She didn't want everyone's attention to be on her, like she was some spectacle at the circus. Chase had already seen her glow, though, and Nico had probably told the others too, so she might as well get it out of the way first. She unclasped her bracelet and tossed it onto her desk, the familiar warmth of her skin lighting up coursing through her.

Lifting herself off the ground, she flew off down the hallway after Nico. Flying was always her preferred method of transportation because it eliminated the possibility of tripping over objects in her path she couldn't see. She also found that she could feel the items around her when she was lit up in a way that she couldn't when she wasn't. At first, it hadn't made sense to her, but now she thought it might be because she could feel her light and energy rebounding off the nearby objects.

"Jumping right in with the lights display, huh?" Nico asked as Karolina flew over her, and Karolina could tell by the sound of her voice that she was smiling.

"It's probably best to get it out of the way," she responded.

Originally, Karolina had resolved to hover behind Nico so she could find the location of the others more easily. As they reached the end of the hallway, though, she realized she didn't need to. Nico's friends were having a loud conversation, about their Spanish homework from what Karolina could gather. She would have no problem finding them on her own.

For a moment, Karolina considered keeping pace with Nico as she walked down the stairs, but she knew that would look ridiculous. Walking down the stairs would take Nico a lot longer than it should take Karolina to fly down them. Karolina supposed she could land beside Nico and walk down the stairs with her, but she would rather face Nico's friends alone for a few seconds than the humiliation of tripping and falling down the stairs in her nervousness.

Following the sounds of the voices coming from the congregation area, Karolina easily made her way to land in front of the three people gathered there. She could tell the moment they saw her because their conversation immediately fell silent as all eyes presumably turned to her. She felt slightly uncomfortable, not used to all the attention, but she didn't let it show. She wanted to know these people, and she could definitely understand their curiosity.

"Wow, that's totally awesome," a female voice finally broke the silence that had settled over the three of them when they had first seen Karolina. The girl had a slight Hispanic accent, which led Karolina to believe that she was Molly. Nico had told Karolina that Molly was adopted and had been raised by Spanish-speaking parents during her early years of life.

"So you really do glow," said another, quieter female voice. "I hope you understand why I was hesitant to believe it until I saw it for myself."

"Maybe one day you guys will actually believe what Nico and I say," said the voice that Karolina already knew to be Chase's.

"If you're referring to the fact that I wouldn't believe that Nico didn't have feelings for you, I thought we'd already been through this," said the second voice, confirming itself to be Gert's.

"You're beautiful," Molly said as the other two began to squabble beside her, and Karolina was embarrassed at the awe she heard coloring the younger girl's tone. She understood, though. She would probably be just as amazed if she saw a girl with glowing skin, if she were able to see herself. She still didn't know what to say, though, so she settled on introducing herself.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all. I'm Karolina Dean."

"Chase Stein, as you already know."

"I'm Molly Hernandez."

"Gertrude Yorkes, but you can call me Gert."

Everyone spoke at once, and Karolina couldn't help but be a little overwhelmed at their enthusiasm. She had never had so many people this interested in her in her life, and she wasn't exactly sure how to respond to it.

Luckily, Molly spoke again before Karolina had much of a chance to, and she could hear the grin on the other girl's face.

"You and Nico are together now, huh?"

"Um, yes," Karolina said softly, suddenly feeling shy. She hadn't been aware that the two girls even knew the nature of her relationship with their friend, and she wished that Nico had given her a heads-up.

Feeling Nico finally walk up beside her, Karolina had to fight the urge to reach out and take her hand. She wanted to, but she didn't want Nico to think she was regretting her decision. Nico seemed to sense her discomfort, though, because a moment later, Karolina felt her girlfriend's hand slide into hers and intertwine their fingers.

"Don't grill her about our relationship right off the bat," Nico said.

"All right. Do you live here in the Church, Karolina? Go to school? Are you a secret superhero? Nico hasn't told us much about you." Karolina thought that Gert was probably glaring at Nico as she said this.

"I do live here, yeah," Karolina said, relieved to have something easy to talk about. "There were so many years that I couldn't do everything for myself, even easy things at the beginning, so it's nice to be able to kind of live on my own now. And no, I don't go to school. I have a private teacher who comes here to give me my lessons while keeping them tied in with my faith."

"What kinds of things do you like to do, Karolina?" Molly asked.

"Spend time with my mom." Karolina shrugged, knowing that her answer probably sounded pretty lame to these people. "We have game nights together a lot. When I'm not with her, I normally read. What about you guys? I'm thinking of going to school next year. What's it like?"

"Boring as all hell," Chase said. "I don't understand why anyone would want to sit in a classroom every day for hours on end learning about stuff that nobody cares about. You should be happy you don't have to go."

"And this is why you're failing Spanish," Gert said teasingly.

"Hey, a C isn't failing," Chase protested.

"Yeah, some classes are really boring," Molly said, "but some are really interesting, so don't listen to Chase."

"I like almost everything I learn with my teacher," Karolina said.

"Why don't you go to school then? Is the homeschool experience better? I've heard it's shorter."

"It's not that. My mom's just a little overprotective after everything that happened, but she said she'd let me go to school next year if I want to. And I'm pretty sure I do."

"I think you'll do great in school," Chase said. "You'll definitely kick my ass at it."

"Thanks, Chase." Karolina couldn't help but smile. She was touched that he was already supporting her, even though he barely knew her. "But tell me more about yourselves. What do you guys like to do?"

"I play lacrosse," Chase told her. "It's basically this sport where you use a stick to carry the ball—"

"I know what lacrosse is." Karolina cut him off with a laugh.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly. "I didn't want to be rude and assume—"

"Yeah, yeah, lacrosse, we know," Molly said playfully, giving Karolina the sense that the sport was something he talked about a lot. "I'm a part of the school's dance team. I absolutely love hip hop."

"And I have an afterschool feminist club that raises awareness for women's rights and advocates for the destruction of the patriarchy," Gert announced proudly.

"A noble cause," Karolina commented. "I wish I could be a part of it."

Truthfully, Karolina wished that she could be a part of any kind of club or team. She wanted to be a part of something other than her religion, for once, something that people all over the world were a part of too.

"My club meets on school grounds," Gert said hesitantly, "and I'm not sure if you'd be comfortable going to rallies with us."

"Maybe you guys can tell Karolina about some things you like to do that have nothing to do with our school," Nico suggested, squeezing Karolina's hand reassuringly.

"I love listening to music," Molly said enthusiastically. "It's my favorite thing in the whole world."

"I really love reading too, Karolina," Gert chimed in. "Maybe we could talk about books sometime."

"When I'm not playing lacrosse or hanging out with these guys, I'm usually watching TV," Chase said. "I don't know if you really do much of that, but…"

He trailed off, and Karolina picked up on his awkwardness. It was clear that he didn't want to say anything that might offend her, and Karolina smiled gratefully in his direction, wanting to put his discomfort at ease. "I watch movies a lot actually. I may not be able to see what's going on, but I can hear it, and I usually have my mom narrate the action scenes for me, unless it's one of my movies made specifically for blind people that does it for me."

"I never knew that movies like that existed," Chase said. "What's your favorite?"

"My favorite?" Karolina replied. "I like so many that it's hard for me to choose just one."

"My favorite is Pitch Perfect," Molly interjected. "Definitely."

"I actually have Pitch Perfect upstairs," Karolina said. "We could watch a movie tonight if you guys want to."

"Yes!" Molly exclaimed eagerly at the same time that Gert asked, "Do you have Jurassic Park?"

Karolina was about to respond that she did indeed have Jurassic Park when Chase responded, "I'd love to watch a movie, but is there any way that I can take a look around Leslie's office first? I'd really like to see the place for myself if that's okay with you."

"Why?" Nico sounded suspicious.

"I want to see that paper about the Staff of One."

"Sure. We can pop in there for a few minutes before we go to my room to pick a movie," Karolina told him.

She didn't see the harm in letting Chase take a quick look around the office. For some reason, Nico seemed reluctant to agree to his request, but Karolina had no idea why. Maybe it was because she thought of the office now as her and Karolina's place. They had spent most of their time together looking through it; they'd even had their first kiss in there.

Whatever Nico's reasons, Karolina couldn't see why she shouldn't allow Chase to have a look around the office when there was a chance that it would prove to be beneficial. He might pick up on something that she and Nico hadn't. In the long run, Karolina thought that the excitement of possibly finding out new information about why her sister had been killed would outweigh Nico's hesitance.

The others followed Karolina up the stairs and down the hallway to her mother's office without saying much at all, and she got the feeling that Chase wasn't the only one who was curious about what was inside. Maybe Nico's friends would help them search through the rest of the documents. Maybe they would find something else.

Upon reaching the office, Karolina spoke the access code and opened the door before stepping back to let everyone else in first. She heard the flip of a light switch as their footsteps passed her, and when she walked in, she was greeted by the sound of a filing cabinet drawer sliding out. She wondered if Nico was grabbing the Staff of One paper.

"You went through  _all_ of these documents?" Molly asked, her voice coming from the direction of the filing cabinet drawer that had been opened. It was followed by the sound of her sliding it shut again. "There's got to be hundreds of papers in each drawer."

"We've been through almost all of them, yeah," Karolina said. "Nothing out of the ordinary except that paper we found two nights ago."

"Could we see that actually?" Gert asked.

"Yeah, I'll grab it," Nico offered, footsteps moving over to the filing cabinet to their right.

The drawer slid open, and Karolina heard a swishing sound as the paper was retrieved. There was a crinkle as Nico presumably handed the paper to Gert, followed by silence as the three who hadn't seen it before looked over it. At least, Karolina thought all three of them were looking over it until she heard a scraping sound coming from the desk in the center of the room immediately followed by the sound of typing. Was someone trying to get into her mom's computer?

Karolina was about to ask what was going on, but Nico beat her to it. "Chase, what the hell are you doing? We can't mess with Leslie's computer."

"There could be something important on here, Nico." Chase sounded slightly exasperated.

"This isn't a movie, Chase," Gert said, and Karolina thought that she was most likely frowning. "You're not going to magically guess the password."

"There isn't a password," Chase explained. "It's a four-digit pin code."

"You're not going to magically guess the number combination either," Nico said, annoyed. "You're not a computer genius, Chase. Just get away from there before it locks you out."

"Can I at least try to put in the code for the security system?"

"No. For all we know, Leslie could have it set to lock after one wrong attempt. We can't risk it."

The more Karolina listened to them argue, the more she was siding with Chase. Karolina hadn't thought once about her mom's computer because she knew that her mom was so meticulous with printing out everything she typed. But what if her mom had a secret, something she never wanted Karolina to find out about? The safest place to store it would be on her computer, where Karolina would have no chance of being able to read it or even of bringing it to anyone else to read.

Chase began to respond, but Karolina cut him off before he could. She wasn't even listening anymore. She wanted to get into that computer now too and also put an end to Chase and Nico's pointless argument.

"I know my mom's pin code," she said.

"She knows her mom's pin code," Nico said as if that meant she'd won the argument. "Why would Leslie give her computer pin code to her daughter if she had something incriminating on it?"

"I don't know. Maybe because her daughter is blind and wouldn't be able to see a damn thing on the screen, let alone search through any of her files." Chase sounded extremely annoyed with Nico, but his tone quickly changed to embarrassment as he realized what he'd said and quickly spoke again. "Wow, I'm sorry, Karolina. I really don't mean that like it's a bad thing. I promise."

"It's okay. I understand what you meant," Karolina said. "Besides, you're right. If my mom really was hiding something that she didn't want me to find, then the computer is probably the best place to search."

Chase was silent for a moment, and Karolina thought he was probably shooting a smug look at Nico or sticking his tongue out at her, or something of the sort. "Okay, so what's the code?" he asked.

"It's just my birth year. 2002," Karolina said with a shrug. "Nothing unusual."

Despite everything she was figuring out, like her mom's lying to her about their powers and her knowledge of the Staff of One's existence, Karolina was still hesitant to believe her mom had done anything wrong. Her mom loved her. This was the woman who had taken care of Karolina her whole life, who had easily backed off to give her more independence when she'd asked for it and was even considering sending her back to school. This was the woman who she'd played games with and watched movies with and laughed with and cried with, the woman who loved her so much and who she loved back. She wasn't some sort of villain, and Karolina was still holding onto the hope that whatever they found out about Amy, her mother wouldn't have played a part in it.

The clicking of keys pulled Karolina back to the present as Chase typed in the pin code and then exclaimed that he was in. She heard the shuffle of footsteps as Nico, Gert, and Molly immediately moved to crowd around him, all of them clearly eager to help him search. Karolina moved over to join them, reaching out to run her fingers atop the edge of the desk to make sure of her position, even though she already knew where she was going, and stopped right before she hit the nearest person, hoping it was Nico.

Silence descended upon the room as everyone looked at the computer screen, broken only by the occasional scroll or click of the mouse. Karolina wondered what they were looking at and tried her best not to feel awkward as she simply stood there. She wished she could be of some real help right now, like the rest of them, and she wondered if any of them was thinking the same thing.

At the feeling of Nico's hand slipping into hers, Karolina relaxed. Nico squeezed her hand reassuringly, and Karolina was grateful that the other girl could sense her discomfort so easily. Of course, the others weren't thinking that Karolina was useless for not being able to search with them. She had searched with Nico for countless nights on end, and they already had enough pairs of eyes scanning the computer screen.

Besides, just because they could see what was on the screen didn't mean they were seeing anything meaningful. Karolina wasn't missing anything. They would surely let her know if they found something important.

"What about this?" Chase eventually asked after an indeterminate number of minutes had passed, drawing everyone's attention to an unknown something on the screen. "It's a folder titled 'Runaways Project.'"

"It could be about those kids that went missing from the Church," Molly said eagerly.

Karolina had almost completely forgotten about the kids that had supposedly gone missing from the Church. If they were runaways, didn't it make sense that they would run away from the Church too? They could be anywhere across the country by now, perfectly safe and living with fake identities.

Maybe this Runaways Project was Leslie's attempt at helping kids, runaways and kids who had been thrown out of their homes, to get back on their feet and start a new life. If that were the case, then it was a project Karolina's dad would have been proud of. Why did everyone here have to assume the worst?

"Open it," Nico said, and Karolina supposed Nico and her friends assumed the worst because they had more reasons to assume Leslie was guilty than not to. They didn't know Leslie like Karolina did. All they knew was that someone in this Church had most likely killed Nico's sister, and they had every right to want to find out who.

A double click of the mouse was followed by a gasp from one of the girls and a groan from Chase.

"The file's encrypted," he immediately explained to Karolina.

"That could be good, though," Molly argued. "It means that Leslie wants to hide whatever's inside of it, which means that it's probably about Amy."

"Or maybe this was what Amy found the night she died," Nico said, "the information she was killed for having."

"But how are we supposed to decrypt the file?" Gert asked.

"I don't know. But we have to," Nico said, a determination in her voice that Karolina didn't think she'd ever heard before.

"Yeah, right. We don't know the first thing about decryption."

"Babe, do you know the encryption code?" Nico asked Karolina, ignoring Gert's pessimism.

"Why would she know the encryption code?" Gert asked while Karolina tried her hardest not to blush at Nico's use of the pet name.

"I don't know it," Karolina confirmed.

"We'll find a way to decrypt it," Chase said, a confidence to his voice that surprised Karolina in light of their current situation. "For now, I'll copy it to a flash drive, and we can figure it out later."

"How?" Nico sighed, her determination from moments ago replaced by acceptance. "Gert was right when she said we have no idea how to decrypt it. None of us would even know where to start."

Chase was silent for so long that Karolina was starting to think he wasn't going to answer. Perhaps he had realized that Nico and Gert were right, and his optimism was fading as quickly as Nico's determination had. Or maybe he was coming up with some kind of a plan, one that someone else in the room—namely Nico—wasn't going to like.

"There is one thing we could do," Chase finally said.

"What?" Nico asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Take a semester-long class on it?"

"No. We have to take it to Alex."


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico asks Alex to decrypt the file on Chase's flash drive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This week's chapter is a bit shorter, but I think it's still an important one, so I can't wait to hear what you guys think of it! Thank you all so much for continuing to read and support this story :)

_Warm afternoon sunlight streamed in through the window as Nico lay sprawled on her stomach on her bed, searching through her history textbook for the answers to her worksheet. Gert lay beside her, reading a book for their literature class that Nico had yet to start. The two of them worked quietly and diligently, the only sound in the room the scratching of Nico's pencil, the occasional turn of a page, and Molly's playing Littlest Pet Shop on the floor. While Nico shared Gert's view that it was unfair for Molly to have less homework than them just because she was younger, she also thought that listening to her younger friend play made her own homework seem a little less boring._

_When Nico was a little over halfway through her worksheet, her bedroom door opened, and all three girls looked up to find Alex standing in the doorway. "Hey, guys. Are you staying over for dinner tonight?"_

_"We were planning on it," Gert answered. "Why?"_

_"Tina texted Amy asking what the dinner count would be, and I have been sent to take inventory," Alex explained. "She insisted that her Destiny quest was more important than mine."_

_"That's Amy for you," Nico said with a laugh._

_"No Chase tonight?" Alex asked, noticing that one boy was missing from their little group._

_"He's at lacrosse," Nico answered. "It's his last practice before the big game tomorrow."_

_"About that." Alex rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly looking nervous. "I was thinking that maybe we could hang out tomorrow after school, if you don't already have plans with Chase. Then we can go to the game together?"_

_"Sure." Nico nodded. "Chase will probably have warmups anyway. We can go grab frozen yogurt at Jenny's if you want to since it's right across from school."_

_"There's no need to convince me," Alex said. "I'm always down for frozen yogurt."_

_"Alex! What's the dinner count?" Amy shouted down the hallway. "Mom's calling me now because you're taking so damn long."_

_"Duty calls." Alex excused himself from the room._

_"See you later," Nico called after him as he closed the door behind him._

_Molly started giggling, and Nico shot her a confused look._

_"Someone has a crush on you," she said in a sing song voice before devolving into another fit of giggles._

_"Who, Alex?" Nico shot Molly an incredulous look. "No, he doesn't."_

_"He seemed pretty nervous asking you to hang out with him just now," Gert chimed in, clearly agreeing with her little sister._

_Nico rolled her eyes. "We hang out all the time. It's no big deal."_

_Her mind was whirring, though. She'd never thought of the possibility that Alex might be developing a crush on her, that_ anyone  _might be developing a crush on her really. She'd only just stopped playing with Littlest Pet Shop herself._

_Thinking back on it, she realized that Alex had seemed kind of nervous around her lately. She hadn't really noticed it before, but now that Gert had pointed it out, plenty of evidence rushed through her mind to support the Yorkes siblings' claims._

_Guilt pounded down on her like a waterfall as she thought about how easily she had agreed to hang out with Alex tomorrow, dismissing him as a friend and nothing more. Was she leading him on?_

_"Oh no," she finally said, as Gert's only response to her previous comment had been a scoff. "You don't think tomorrow's hangout is really supposed to be a date, do you?"_

_"No." Gert shook her head. "I think it's exactly what he said it would be, but I think he probably wishes it was a date."_

_A new worry popped into Nico's head at the words. "Oh my god. What if he's planning on asking me out?"_

_"Well, do you like him?" Molly asked from her place on the floor._

_Did she? Nico wasn't sure. Sure, he was one of her closest friends, but did she feel differently about him than she did about Chase? She thought about kissing him and immediately felt a blush rise to her cheeks._

_"You're blushing," Molly was quick to point out. "You do like him."_

_"I don't know if I do." Nico wasn't sure if she had blushed at the thought of kissing Alex specifically or just at the thought of kissing a boy in general. It wasn't something she had previously planned on thinking about anytime soon._

_"So much for males and females being nothing more than friends," Gert mumbled._

_"Hey, Chase and I are just friends, and that's all we'll ever be," Nico protested before joking, "I could never go out with the boy who played My Little Ponies with me in first grade."_

_"You played with My Little Ponies?" Gert said distastefully._

_"Yes. What's wrong with playing My Little Pony?" Nico asked, confused. "Is this because of the whole Brony thing?"_

_"No, it's because of the whole keeping horses in captivity thing," Gert said. "I would never even touch them as a kid."_

_"You would never even touch them now," Molly pointed out._

_"Whatever," Gert huffed, but she didn't argue._

_On any normal day, Nico would've been entertained by her friend's antics, but she couldn't seem to focus after what said friend had revealed to her about Alex. He had feelings for her; Gert was probably right about that. Now the only question was, did she have feelings for him too?_

* * *

 As Nico walked into school the next morning with Chase's flash drive, she didn't think she had ever dreaded a school day more than this one. Alex had betrayed her, and she was not keen on talking to him again, not now, not ever. She knew it was going to be awkward as hell asking him for a favor when she hadn't spoken to him in almost a year, and she knew that he was more than likely going to refuse. But she understood why she had to try.

She had finally found information on Amy, and Alex was the only one who could allow her to see it. How ironic. She didn't know why she even had her hopes up, but she did. She hoped he would decrypt that file, and she hoped he would finally come clean to her. And that was probably what hurt her the most. Even after all this time, she still missed Alex's friendship. Call her weak, but it was the unfortunate truth.

The minute she walked in the doors, Nico walked straight to Alex's locker, not even bothering to stop at her own first. When he didn't look up right away, she cleared her throat, immediately drawing his attention to her. His eyebrows shot up in surprise, but she held up the flash drive before he could say anything.

"I need you to help me decrypt a file." Nico knew that her stiff, unfriendly tone wasn't going to make Alex very likely to help her, but it seemed to be the only way that she knew how to talk to him anymore. Needing his help now was making her feel sick to her stomach, and she wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible.

Anger spread across Alex's face. "You think that I'll help you after everything that's happened between us? After you and Chase cast me out as if we were never even friends at all?"

"I was hoping so, yes." Nico didn't even feel the need to defend her actions. Alex knew why she and Chase had done what they did.

The air was sparking with tension, and Nico felt like a firecracker just waiting to go off.

"What's so important about this file? You failing computer class or something?"

"More like or something." Nico rolled her eyes, wondering what sort of computer class Alex thought she was taking. It wasn't like decrypting a file was taught here in computer applications.

She held the flash drive out to Alex again, but he pushed it away. "No. Way."

"Please," Nico said. Maybe it was because of the finality in Alex's voice or the realization of what his refusal would mean, but Nico's anger fell back in that moment, a last-ditch effort to get him to see how much this meant to her. "It's important."

Nico was surprised when Alex's own anger fell away too as he let out a long sigh, his tone softening. "Okay. What's the file?"

And Nico knew that his defenses were about to go right back up again. She wished that there was a way for Alex to decrypt the file without ever finding out what was in it, wished that she never had to tell him what she had been up to this past month at all. But she did. There was no way around it.

"It's from the Church of Gibborim," she said, confidence in her brown eyes. "I stole it from Leslie Dean's computer."

As expected, Alex's own brown eyes immediately hardened again. "You've been sneaking into the Church of Gibborim?! I told you not to mess with that shit." He let out a bitter laugh. "I thought you respected our friendship enough to at least listen to me when it came to that."

"We don't  _have_ a friendship anymore, Alex." The truth sliced through their anger like a sword at Nico's words, leaving them both bleeding and raw in the hallway. "You made sure of that yourself."

"That's not fair." Alex's throat bobbed. "Why can't you see that I'm only trying to protect you from ending up dead?"

"Because Amy was  _my_ sister. And I have a right to know what happened to her. This is my decision to make."

Alex opened his mouth, and for a moment, Nico thought that he was going to tell her everything, the whole story like he should've done right after the accident happened, but he closed his mouth again before any actual words could come out.

When he opened his mouth again, Nico knew that whatever was going to come out of it wasn't going to be about Amy. "Whether I want to decrypt your file is my decision. I'm sorry, Nico, but I just can't say yes this time."

Nico slammed her fist into Alex's locker the minute he walked away, and she wondered what the hell he had meant by that. Alex hadn't said 'yes' or 'okay' or anything even remotely favorable to Nico in a very long time.

* * *

 " _Rarrrr," Chase said as he knocked over another animal with his Triceratops._

" _Stop, Chase. You're not posta do that," Nico complained._

" _Dinosaurs aren't posta be friends with animals," Chase argued. "They eat them."_

" _Not that one," Nico pointed to the dinosaur in Chase's hand. "That kind eats green food, member?"_

" _But what about this one?" Chase grabbed another dinosaur. "T-Rex eats animals AND dinosaurs."_

" _Dinosaurs are animals, dummy," Nico pointed out._

_But Chase wasn't listening. He was marching his T-Rex right over to Nico's favorite pink Stegosaurus._

_She grabbed the dinosaur with a shriek and took off running, squealing when Chase immediately followed her with his T-Rex._

" _Stop, Chase. Stop!" she yelled as she ran._

" _Hey, get out of the way," Alex complained as Nico and Chase ran in front of the TV screen._

" _Oops, sorry." Chase stopped running to apologize._

" _Wanna play with us?" Amy asked, her attention drawn from the game now too._

_Nico took one glance at the television and shook her head. "It's lunch time."_

_Amy turned around to look into the kitchen. "Momma's not making lunch yet."_

" _I don't wanna play Pokémon," Nico whined._

" _We don't have to play Pokémon," Alex said, exiting out of the game. "Let's play Mario Kart."_

_Chase and Nico both cheered at the mention of their favorite Wii game. They dropped their dinosaurs to the floor, forgotten, as they moved over to settle on the couch. Alex handed the number one Wii remote to Amy as he got up to change the game and then he got to work setting Chase and Nico's remotes up in the wheels they preferred to play with._

" _What should we do first?" Amy asked as the game loaded._

" _Moon Highway," Chase shouted, referring to Moonview Highway._

" _No," Nico said. "You always win that one."_

" _Uh-huh." Chase shot her a grin._

" _I'm gonna throw a blue shell at you," Nico pouted._

" _No, Nico," Alex said as he handed her a steering wheel._

" _Huh?" It wasn't what Alex had said that confused her. It wouldn't be unlike him to defend Chase, always wanting to keep the peace in their little friend group. It was the way he said it, so cold, like he wasn't talking about the game anymore._

" _I won't decrypt that file for you."_

* * *

  _Beep. Beep. Beep._  The sound of Nico's alarm going off pulled her from her sleep, and she realized that she had been dreaming. This particular dream felt more like a memory, though, a memory that had been corrupted by her talk with Alex yesterday. Nico didn't often dream of when she was little—Amy was rarely alive in her dreams at all anymore—and Nico was pissed off that Alex could ruin even that.

A foul mood enveloped Nico as she began to get ready for school. She didn't want to go to school ever again. All she wanted was to go back in time and prevent herself from ever asking Alex to help her in the first place. He'd had a chance to help Nico again, and he hadn't chosen to take it. Nico felt as hurt as she had the first time he'd refused to tell her anything, and she wished that she could take it all back.

Her parents clearly noticed her mood shift, shooting each other worried glances during breakfast, but they didn't comment on it. Her dad didn't even question her about it in the car, and she was grateful that they were giving her space.

She felt as if a black cloud loomed over her head as she walked down the school hallways, thunder rumbling whenever anyone got too close. A storm was brewing in the cloud above, and it was only a matter of time before someone got struck by lightning.  _Woe to anyone who tries to talk to me._

When she reached her locker, she thought that the lightning was about to attack full force when she saw who was waiting for her there, but the cloud began to dissipate instead when she noticed the nervous look on his face.

Alex.

A blossom of hope uncurled itself in Nico's heart as she wondered if maybe he'd changed his mind. She shook her head, closing her eyes tightly before opening them again to make sure she wasn't dreaming, but Alex was still there.

He'd never sought her out before, not since she'd expressed her desire to never see him again. So what was he doing here now?

"Do you still have that flash drive?" he asked when she reached him.

"Yeah." Nico reached for the flash drive, which she'd stuffed into the side pocket of her backpack after yesterday's rejection.

Alex was silent for so long that Nico thought he might never explain himself, thought he might lose his nerve and walk away. She didn't want that to happen, though. Whatever he'd planned on saying, she wanted him to say it.

Right before Nico could ask him what he was doing here, Alex finally spoke again. "You were right yesterday. I needed to warn you that it was dangerous, what Amy had been doing, but you have a right to know what happened to her. I'm sorry for keeping it from you."

Nico tried her best to keep her emotions off her face. This was everything she'd wanted to hear from Alex since Amy had died. Of course she was grateful for it. She didn't want him to know that it had any kind of effect on her, though. Sure, he'd apologized, but he'd apologized too late.

"I'll decrypt that file for you," he said. "If you still want me to."

"Really?" Nico dared not let her immense hope play out on her face lest this was all some cruel trick played by the boy who'd hurt her one too many times.

"I've been an asshole to you this past year. You and Chase. It's the least I can do."

He held out his hand, palm upturned.

Nico didn't hesitate.

She gave him the drive.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex gives the flash drive back to Nico, and she and Karolina find out what's on it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So....shit goes DOWN in this chapter you guys. I apologize in advance. But you are getting some huge answers, so I really hope that this one doesn't disappoint!

"It's been decrypted." Alex held out the flash drive to Nico on Monday morning. "Everything you need to know is on that drive."

"So you read through it." Nico took the drive back from him. "Is it everything that you and Amy suspected?"

"And then some," he said. "It's enough to put Leslie Dean behind bars for good."

Nico's stomach dropped at the news. Of course she'd known all along that Leslie Dean had killed her sister. She'd gone into the Church that first night looking for the proof that she was holding right now in her hands. She should feel great right now, but the truth was that she didn't even feel good. Karolina loved her mom, adored her even, and the more Nico listened to the blonde talk about her, the more Nico had started hoping she'd find some other explanation, some kind of proof that it was a different member of the Church that had been murdering kids.

All along, Nico had known the truth. She'd just been losing her desire to believe it.

While Nico wanted to go to the school library this very second and pull up that file, she knew Karolina deserved to be there when she did. Even though Nico wished the blonde never had to find out at all, she would much rather they find out together than carry the horrific knowledge with her all day and dread the moment she would have to pass it on.

"That's where she deserves to be for killing my sister and so many others," Nico said, pushing away her train of thoughts so she could focus on the present conversation. "Thank you for doing this."

Alex only nodded, so Nico returned the nod and then turned back to her locker, expecting him to walk away. He didn't, though; he lingered, and Nico wondered what else he could possibly have to say. When it came to him, Nico didn't even know where to start anymore.

"Do you think we could maybe hang out sometime? Grab a coffee or something and catch up?" He looked incredibly nervous. Nico knew that look. "Maybe we could go to Jenny's?"

Turning back to look at him, Nico found she couldn't respond. He still liked her, and now she was not only going to have to tell Karolina her mother was a murderer, but she was also going to have to turn Alex down. It had been so long since she and he had talked to each other on friendly terms, though, that she didn't even know what to say.

There was so much that had happened since the last time they'd spoken even, so much that Alex had missed out on, and she didn't think she could get him caught up in a few hours. She didn't really want to. He'd betrayed both her and Chase, two of his best friends since kindergarten, and she knew that she could never trust him again the way that she once had.

"Could we just start over?" Alex asked when Nico didn't respond.

He was giving her that look that he used to, those soft eyes and that small smile, and Nico knew she had to put an end to this immediately. Maybe they could be friends again someday, but they could never be more than that, not after everything that had happened between them.

When they were kids, Nico had been confused by Alex's feelings. She'd never experienced any sort of romantic attraction for anyone before, and she'd ended up telling Alex that. She'd been so young, and she hadn't wanted to try to force those feelings to show up early with Alex. He'd been kind and understanding, and she'd hoped that those kinds of feelings would actually show up for her someday. They had.

Just not for Alex.

"Not completely," Nico finally responded. "We can't pretend like this past year never happened. Even if we can move on from it, we can never be together the way you've always wanted us to be. I've finally developed feelings for someone, and we're seeing each other now. Me and Karolina Dean."

Alex's face fell as soon as Nico mentioned she was taken, and that was when she knew. He'd held out hope that she'd develop feelings for him. All this time. Even after they'd stopped being friends. Nico had once hoped for the same thing, if only so she wouldn't have to hurt his feelings. But she hadn't hoped that in a while, and she was glad things hadn't worked out between them in the romantic department. She had a chemistry with Karolina that she and Alex had never had.

This time, it was Alex's turn to be at a loss for words and Nico's turn to continue speaking. "Maybe we can try to be friends again someday. I would like for us to do that. But there's a lot going on for me right now, and it's just…not the right time."

Alex nodded slowly, and Nico thought she could detect the shine of tears in the corners of his eyes. "I understand, Nico. And I really am sorry. For everything."

For one more second, he lingered and then he walked off down the hallway, disappearing in a sea of students. Nico almost ran after him—maybe she had been too hard on him, maybe she should try letting him back into her life now—but she stayed put. She hadn't lied when she'd said she wasn't ready. She hadn't said anything to Alex that wasn't true.

* * *

 "So? Did Alex give you back the flash drive?" Chase asked the minute he joined Nico, Gert, and Molly at their lunch table.

Nico only nodded. When he'd asked her about it in their third period class, she'd shushed him, feigning interest in the lecture their teacher was giving. It seemed he hadn't gotten the message that Nico didn't want to talk about it. She didn't want to talk about what Alex had said this morning, and she certainly didn't want to talk about the fact that she was going to be bringing Karolina the proof tonight that her mother was a murderer. She didn't even want to think about it.

"And did you open the file?" Gert asked. "Did he actually decrypt it?"

"He said he did." Nico shrugged, not lifting her eyes from the table in front of her. "I haven't had a chance to check it out yet."

She wanted to crawl out of her skin and sink through the floor, where she could be away from everyone she knew for a while and take as long as she needed to face them again. If only the world worked that way.

"We could go to the library during lunch if you want," Molly suggested, clearly eager to find out what exactly was going on at the Church. "I can be done with my food in ten."

No. Nico didn't want to look at that file, not now. Of course she wanted to find out what was on it. She wanted to know what had happened to her sister, no matter what it proved about Karolina's mom. But she didn't want to do it here with her friends. She wanted to find out the answer with the person she'd first begun searching for it with. Karolina. Waiting one more day for answers wasn't going to kill her friends.

"Maybe Nico doesn't want to think about that file right now," Chase told Molly when Nico didn't respond. "I'm sure talking to Alex this morning wasn't easy for her."

Nico finally looked up from the table, meeting Chase's gaze and shooting him a grateful smile. He was right. Talking to Alex this morning had taken a lot out of her. Having to deny his request for them to try to be friends again right now, when that was exactly what she'd wanted deep down for months, had hurt more than she cared to admit. She'd thought Alex's apologizing and deciding to help her would change everything, but it hadn't changed anything at all.

"It wasn't," Nico admitted, "but it's not just that. I don't want to open that file without Karolina, not after how much she's helped me. I mean, we wouldn't even have the file if it weren't for her. But I also think that it should only be her and me tonight. This morning, Alex told me that whatever's in that file is enough to put Leslie in jail for the rest of her life, and I think it would be best if I'm the only one there when Karolina finds out her mom is a murderer."

"She still doesn't believe it's Leslie?" Molly asked, incredulous. "Even after we found that file on her computer?"

Nico shook her head. "She thinks it could be a project to help runaways, and I know the file was encrypted, but she thinks her mom is a literal saint. And I don't blame her. From what Karolina has told me, Leslie Dean is a caring mother who goes out of her way to help others. If she has a dark side, then I can guarantee you that Karolina's never experienced it."

"I don't get it," Gert said. "How can a mother who's so devoted to her daughter have murdered twelve different kids?"

It was the question that had been plaguing Nico's mind ever since she had heard Karolina's stories about Leslie. From the way her daughter talked about her, Leslie Dean was a woman who loved her daughter more than anything else, constantly spending time with her and making her feel safe and loved. So how could she go and murder other people's children without thinking of the pain and agony that their own parents would feel at their loss, that she herself would surely feel if she lost her own daughter? How could she even look at those kids without seeing Karolina?

No matter how much she thought about it, Nico had never been able to come up with any suitable answer. So she gave the only answer she could give.

"I have no idea."

* * *

Nico and Karolina were in Leslie's office. The flash drive was in the computer. The file was loaded. All Nico had to do was click on it to open it, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She was starting to wonder if maybe she should've just gone ahead and opened the file on her own. Then, at least, she would've already known what was on it and could've prepared to present the information to Karolina in the best way possible.

"Did you open it?" Karolina's voice pulled Nico out of her thoughts.

This was it. Whatever was on this file was what Nico had been looking for all these nights, the information she'd wanted to have since Amy had died. Now that she had it right in front of her, though, one click away, she wondered how it could possibly be real.

"I'm afraid," Nico admitted. "Of what I'll find. What if it's not enough? What if it's worse than anything we could've possibly imagined?"

"Then we'll find it together." Karolina felt for Nico's shoulder and squeezed it. "No matter what's on that file, we have each other."

"Okay." Nico nodded several times, convincing herself that she could do this, that she and Karolina both deserved to know this information.

Taking a deep breath, she clicked on the file.

A list was all the document contained. A list of names, it looked like. The names Amy had written on her mirror.

"'Ellen MacDonough.'" Nico read the first one, dread shooting through her at what followed it. "'Sacrificed October 5, 2007. Harmony is restored.' It's a list of all the kids that went missing. They're all…dead."

Nico had known it. She'd known it from the moment she saw those names written out in invisible ink on her sister's mirror. Those kids were dead. But knowing it and actually seeing the proof written out in front of her were two very different things. She reached for Karolina's hand and squeezed, needing something to ground her in the moment, to keep the images of Leslie murdering eleven teenagers—twelve, if you counted Amy—out of her head.

"The sacrifices," was Karolina's only response, her voice quiet.

"What?" Nico turned around to face her. Was it possible that Karolina could've known about these sacrifices? Had Nico triggered some kind of suppressed memory by reading out that name?

"Those kids didn't go missing. They were the sacrifices," Karolina said with a relieved smile.

Nico was anything but relieved. Whatever she'd expected to find out was going on in this Church, she'd never once stopped to consider that Karolina might have been a part of it. Not since that very first night at least. Karolina would never do anything so horrible; there had to be another explanation for this.

"What do you mean?" Nico asked. "You knew about these sacrifices?"

"Everyone in our religion does." Karolina looked confused. "Weird that the kids would be reported missing, though. I know my mom makes anyone who agrees to be the sacrifice write an explanation letter for their families."

"And maybe she never sends them," Nico pointed out. Normally, she would've been right there beside Karolina, trying to puzzle out why the kids were reported missing, but she couldn't get over the fact that Karolina had known. The Church of Gibborim was killing teenagers, and Karolina had  _known_.

"Why the fuck do you guys think it's okay to sacrifice people?" She hadn't meant for it to come out sounding angry, but she was angry, angry that her sister had died, angry that every one of these kids had died, angry that Karolina had never done anything to try to stop it.

"Because we need to maintain the balance between our world and the spectrum."

It sounded crazy. The Church of Gibborim was nothing but a cult of crazy  _murderers_ , and Nico had fallen right into their trap. Nico might have been angry, but even more than that, she was afraid. She cared about Karolina so much—because she was kind, generous, and compassionate—and all along, she and her mother had been sacrificing innocent people to some higher realm that didn't exist.

Nico's hands began to shake as the realization really started to sink in. She had  _kissed_ someone who might as well have been a killer, was standing in the same room as that person right now. It took everything in her not to run away from this place as fast as she could and never look back.

Taking a deep breath, Nico tried her best to calm down. Freaking out right now wasn't going to help either of them. She had to remember that this was Karolina. She needed to give her a chance, try to reason with her.

"You do realize that your mom is killing people, right, Karolina? These people had long, long lives ahead of them, and your mom took that away from them. They're  _dead_."

"You don't have to say it like that, Nico," Karolina said, her tone growing clipped. "You don't understand. If we don't do the sacrifices, then we'll lose our connection to our inner light and be lost to the darkness forever."

" _I_ don't understand? You're killing innocent people for this spectrum that doesn't even exist. Do  _you_  understand?" The words were out of Nico's mouth before she could even really think about them, and she instantly regretted them. Karolina had a right to believe in whatever religion she wanted; the fact that this particular teaching was inhumane didn't mean the entire religion was. Nico never would've said anything like this on any other day, but she was angry and confused and  _scared_ , and the words had slipped out before she could stop them.

"The spectrum may not be real to you, but it's real to me. I thought you had enough respect for me and my beliefs to at least try to understand why the sacrifices are so important, but clearly you don't care as much as I thought you did." Karolina's glow was completely gone now, and there was a coldness to her blue eyes that Nico had never seen before; the sight was almost enough to stop her arguing right there. But nothing could excuse killing. She had to get Karolina to see that.

"Okay, so maybe I shouldn't have said that," Nico admitted, "but help me understand. Help me understand how a girl who's so caring that she decided to help me search through her mom's office when she didn't even  _know_  me to find out how my sister died could possibly be okay with killing someone every year."

"I don't think I'd ever be able to actually perform the sacrifices myself." Karolina's anger fell away as she responded, replaced by something that looked like discomfort. Nico had to resist the urge to reach out and squeeze her hand. "It also probably helps that I can't actually  _see_ it happening and someone always volunteers. But it's what we have to do."

"Someone always volunteers?" Nico asked, skeptical. "How do you know that?"

Karolina rolled her eyes. "They never protest during the ceremony. Do you really think they'd just go silently if they didn't want to be there?"

_Maybe they're already unconscious when the ceremony begins_ , Nico thought,  _or they have no idea what they're signing up for when they volunteer._  Nico could've listed out possibilities all night, but she pushed the thoughts away. She could think about that later. Right now, she needed to learn as much about these sacrifices as she could.

"And you're sure other people are there for the ceremony?" Nico knew it would have been all too easy for Leslie to trick Karolina, who trusted her more than anyone, into thinking that everyone in the Church knew about this and was okay with it when in reality they had no knowledge of it at all.

"I may be blind, but I'm not deaf." Karolina sounded frustrated again. "Everyone responds during the ceremony, not just me. Not to mention, the Cleansing Ceremony is a holy sacrament that we all celebrate and talk about during Services."

"That doesn't make it right, Karo."

Nico used the nickname as a sort of truce, extending it to Karolina like a hand to shake. She didn't want to make the other girl mad. She just wanted to reason with her, to help her understand the flaws in her mother's system.

But Karolina didn't hear it that way.

Silence snuffed out the voices that had been arguing only moments ago, and Karolina crossed her arms, making a point of turning her head away from Nico.

A scary thought crossed Nico's mind. What if this was it for them? What if they could never make it past this? Were they over? She didn't know. She didn't want to break up with Karolina, but she also didn't know if things could ever be the same for them. What would happen when it came time for this year's sacrifice? Could Nico really be with Karolina knowing the horror of what she was doing?

When Karolina didn't speak for several seconds, Nico turned back to the computer screen, reading through the entire list. Each name was there, but there was still no mention of Amy.

Disappointment washed over her at the revelation. She'd hoped that Leslie would've written something in here about her sister, some clue as to exactly what had happened to her, even though Nico was pretty sure she knew the truth by now. Her sister hadn't found this document that night; she'd seen a sacrifice in action. But why had she stolen the Staff of One?

That was when Nico actually took the time to read the single sentence at the bottom of the page, and her eyes widened in horror.  _Each sacrifice must be performed to fuel the power of the Staff of One, to maintain harmony with it_

What was this? A sick little reminder for Leslie of why she supposedly needed to do the sacrifices? Nico wondered if she read it every time she added a new name to the list, if she took comfort in it. The thought made Nico's stomach churn. The sacrifices had nothing to do with religion at all. Leslie killed people and lied to the members of her Church, preyed upon their beliefs, so that she could keep giving more power to her magic Staff, a Staff that she shouldn't have even had in the first place.

Suddenly, it all made sense. Amy had stolen that Staff in the hopes that she could prevent any more kids from being sacrificed in its name. And now it was Nico's job to keep it safe, to finish what Amy had started.

She had to tell Karolina.

"It's the Staff," she breathed out. "Everything your mom told you about offering up sacrifices to the spectrum is a lie. She's doing them for the Staff."

Nico's revelation was met with nothing but silence, so she turned back to look at the girl behind her. Karolina's blue eyes were conflicted, like she couldn't believe what she was hearing, like she was finally starting to believe the sacrifices weren't as necessary as she'd thought.

"You're lying," Karolina finally said, and Nico's heart sank.

"Why would I lie to you about something like this?"

"To prove to me that my mom is evil so you can win the argument."

"Come on, Karolina. I couldn't care less about winning some silly argument between us. All I care about, all I've ever cared about, is finding out the truth, and the truth is written right here in front of me. It says, 'Each sacrifice must be performed to fuel the power of the Staff of One, to maintain harmony with it.'"

"It's written right there in front of you, huh?" Karolina scoffed bitterly. "How convenient that I can't see it."

Any anger, frustration, or fear that Nico had been feeling in the moments beforehand immediately disappeared at Karolina's words, leaving Nico with nothing but hurt. She'd thought Karolina cared about her,  _trusted_ her, but it seemed as if she didn't even know Nico at all. Realizing that Karolina actually thought Nico would take advantage of the fact that she was blind hurt more than anything had since Amy's death, more even than Alex's subsequent betrayal. And for what? To win some stupid argument? Nico would never use another person's disability to make them think she was right about something. No matter who it was.

All Nico wanted was to get out of there right that second. She couldn't be around Karolina any longer right now.

Exiting out of the file, she pulled the flash drive from the computer and logged off before standing from her chair. That hard look was back in Karolina's blue eyes, causing tears to fall from Nico's eyes in twin streams before she had the chance to even think about stopping them.

"I would never do that to you, Karo," she said, trying her best to keep her voice steady. She couldn't leave without making sure the blonde knew.

She was out of the office before Karolina had a chance to respond, not wanting to hear what she had to say for fear that it wouldn't be favorable, for fear that the blonde wouldn't even respond at all.

She thought she heard Karolina call after her, but she didn't turn around. She didn't want any more to do with Karolina that night, or maybe any other night again. She just kept walking, down the hall, down the stairs, through the congregation space, and out the door.

Only when she'd slipped out into the cool night air and shut the door tightly behind her did she finally allow her sobs to escape.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angst ensues as Nico and Karolina deal with the aftermath of their argument.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry it's been a while since I last updated. I honestly had this chapter ready to go last week, and I just forgot to post it because so much has been going on with work and going to Halloween Horror Nights last weekend. But hey this chapter is twice the size of a normal one, so at least there's that lol. Thank you all for being patient with me! :)

Nico wanted nothing more than to skip school the next morning. She knew the first thing her friends were going to ask about was the night before, and that was the last thing she wanted to talk about right now. Her parents would never let her skip, though, not without a good reason. And to present a good reason, she'd have to tell them about what happened last night, which kind of defeated the purpose of staying home.

So she dragged herself out of bed and resolved to get ready for school, no matter how much she didn't want to. She didn't really have any better options.

Warring thoughts coursed through Nico's head as she moved about the house. On the one hand, she couldn't stand to lose Karolina. She'd never felt as strongly for anyone else as she felt about Karolina, and a tiny part of her wanted to walk to the Church of Gibborim right now and make things right. On the other hand, though, she never wanted to see Karolina again. She couldn't be romantically involved with someone who supported her mother in killing people. Besides, Nico still hadn't gotten over Karolina's outright refusal to believe her about her mother's lies. Karolina didn't care about Nico, not the way Nico cared about her. If she did, she would never have implied such an awful thing.

One thought plagued Nico's mind more than any other on the car ride to school. Would she ever be able to forgive Karolina?

Yesterday, Nico had been afraid because of what she and Karolina were going to find out about Leslie. She had never in a million years thought to be afraid because of what she might find out about Karolina.

When she turned to get out of the car that morning, she was stopped by the feel of her father's hand on her arm. "Nico, your mother and I have noticed that you've been struggling lately, and we really wish you'd talk to us about what happened. You were getting to be so happy again, and now… Did something happen between you and that girl you like?"

She considered lying. She considered scowling at her father and walking right out the door without saying a word to him. What had happened between her and Karolina was strictly between her and Karolina, but she also loved her parents, and she wanted them to know about what was going on in her life.

She nodded. "We had a fight."

"Your mom and I figured as much," Robert said with a nod of his own, "but one fight isn't the end of the world. You'll realize you were wrong, or she will, and you guys will work it out."

"Maybe," Nico said, but she didn't really believe it. Her dad didn't have the faintest idea what she and Karolina had even argued about. It certainly wasn't your typical high school drama.

"I know everything feels awful right now," he said, "but whether or not you two make up, this argument won't even matter in a year."

Nico hated when adults said things like that. Knowing her argument with Karolina wouldn't matter later didn't help her much right now. But there might have been some truth in what her dad had said. She and Karolina would have to talk this out sooner or later.

As she walked down the school hallways that morning, she shoved other students out of the way if they stepped into her path. She didn't care what anyone thought of her right now. She just wanted to get to class where she knew she wouldn't be bothered for a while. As fate would have it, she found Chase waiting for her by their lockers, and she groaned at the thought of having to talk to him so early in the day.

"Did you open the file last night?" Sure enough, the first thing out of her best friend's mouth was about the one thing she didn't want to talk about. He watched her with excited brown eyes, but she only threw her backpack down by her locker.

"Yes," she said stiffly, refusing to look at Chase as she put in her locker combination.

Chase's excited smile instantly turned into a confused frown. "Was there…nothing on that file? I thought Alex said there was evidence."

"I don't want to talk about it," Nico said harshly.

She knew she was being unfair, but she didn't want to talk to anyone right now. She knew she needed to, and there was no one she'd rather talk about this particular subject with than Chase, but she'd never been one to freely talk about vulnerable topics.

"It was a prank, wasn't it?" Chase's eyes hardened in anger. "I'm so gonna beat Alex's ass."

"It wasn't a prank, okay? I found exactly what I thought I was gonna find on that flash drive. I'm just not in the mood to talk about last night right now, so can you leave it alone and ask me later?"

Chase's eyes turned soft in realization, and Nico knew he had figured it out. "Did something happen with you and Karolina?"

Nico didn't say anything, couldn't without bursting into tears right there in the middle of the hallway. She knew they could go to the janitor's closet, but she didn't want to cry right now. She couldn't help but not want anyone to know.

Nothing was wrong with her. She was fine. She could handle this on her own.

Chase took her silence as answer enough and let the subject drop, heading off to his first period class without another word. Instead of feeling grateful, though, Nico only felt disappointed.

He was giving her space, just like she'd asked for. So why did she feel the urge to pull him into a hug and never come back out of it?

* * *

"All right, what the hell is up with you?" Gert stepped in front of Nico in the lunchroom, Molly and Chase flanking her on either side. Nico rolled her eyes, trying her best to appear annoyed when in reality she felt moments away from breaking. "You've barely said a word to Chase all day, and you've snapped at me twice already, so don't tell me it's nothing."

"It's none of your business." Nico tried to push past Chase. She knew he was the one who was most likely to let her through, and she wanted nothing more than to escape to somewhere she could be alone. She tried, but Gert blocked her path.

"It's all of our business." Gert's tone left no room for argument. "Like it or not, we're in this together now, so we deserve to know what you found in that file."

"Okay." Nico sighed, her snarky front dissipating as she deflated in front of them. Keeping things from friends was exactly what had torn her and Alex apart. She refused to do the same. "That file was Leslie's record of all the kids she sacrificed for the Staff of One. Apparently, the sacrifices make it more powerful somehow."

"And Amy?" Chase asked, a hint of hope in his eyes. Nico wished she didn't have to be the one to crush it.

"She wasn't mentioned. But I don't think she ever saw this information. I think she saw a sacrifice actually happen, and I think she stole the Staff to stop Leslie from doing any more."

"That's fucked up." Every trace of Gert's anger was gone, but there was something else in her eyes now, something that looked like concern. "But it makes perfect sense. And we already knew those kids were dead, didn't we?"

"Yes," Nico said.

No matter what she'd wanted to believe, she'd known that it was true. Those kids were as dead as Amy was. All eleven of them.

"Then can you please tell us what the problem is?" Nico didn't think she'd ever heard Gert sound so gentle. "Chase said something happened between you and Karolina, so I'm just trying to understand why this upset you so much that you guys fought about it."

Nico didn't want to say it. She wanted to pretend she hadn't been upset by what she'd learned, that nothing had happened between her and Karolina at all. But her friends already knew. And she needed to tell someone. She really needed advice right now because trying to puzzle everything out in her thoughts hadn't been working, and she'd been at it for hours. She needed a fresh perspective, and she knew no one would make her feel better than her friends would.

"Because Karolina knew," she said, trying her best to keep her tears at bay. She needed to tell her friends everything, and she wouldn't be able to do that if she broke down right now. "About the sacrifices. She knew, and she doesn't have a problem with them."

The sympathetic looks that had been present on Nico's friends' faces as they tried to figure out what was going on were now replaced by looks of shock at the revelation. It was clear they'd all also thought Karolina to be incapable of going along with something so awful, which only made it harder for Nico to keep her emotions under control. Yet another person in Nico's life wasn't who she'd thought they were.

"What?" Molly asked, the first to break the stunned silence. "How could she?"

"She thinks it's some sacred Gibborim ceremony," Nico explained, trying to ignore the way her eyes were watering. "If the members of the Church don't sacrifice someone each year, they'll lose their inner light."

"That's horrible." Gert's anger flared up again. "Horrible that Leslie would be so selfish as to trick her people into becoming murderers."

"Karolina didn't even believe me when I told her about the Staff. She thought I was just making it up to convince her that the sacrifices aren't right. But I wasn't." Nico's voice broke as she said it, but she had to say it. She had to make sure her friends knew that she hadn't done what Karolina had accused her of. "I swear, I wasn't."

"Hey." Chase pulled Nico into the hug she'd been wanting all day, the one she hadn't let herself have. "No one thinks that you were."

"Karolina does." Nico finally let her tears escape, couldn't hold them in any longer. It was as if the warmth and comfort of Chase's arms had finally pulled down the barrier she'd built up to stop them, and now they could all flow free. It was exactly why she'd resisted the physical contact until now in the first place.

"There's no way she really thinks that." Gert placed a comforting hand on Nico's arm. "We all know you would never do that to anyone, let alone Karolina, and Karolina knows that too. She was probably just overwhelmed and scared, like you were, and she didn't want to believe what you were saying, so she lashed out at you to make you stop."

"She'd be an idiot to think you were taking advantage of her," Chase said fiercely.

That moment was the first time all day that Nico had felt okay, and she was grateful for her friends' ability to see sense when she could not. "You're right," she said, pulling out of the hug and wiping her eyes. "I just—I really miss her."

"You're not seeing her tonight?" Molly asked, confused.

"I don't know, Molls." Nico's gaze dropped to her feet. "I mean, she thinks it's okay to kill people for her religion. Can I really still be with her now that I know that?"

Gert arched an eyebrow at Nico. "It's not like she's a serial killer. She's doing it because she believes she has to. You'd be the same way if you were raised in that religion."

"No, I wouldn't." Nico was offended that Gert would even think something like that about her. There was no possible universe in which Nico was okay with murder, especially now, after what had happened to her sister.

"Yeah right," Gert said. "The Church of Gibborim is all Karolina has ever known. Your mom might've taught you that killing was wrong, but Karolina's mom and the people in her Church all taught her that it was not only okay but  _necessary_  for there to be any good in the world. Leslie taught Karolina that she would become a villain without the sacrifices, but what that girl never knew was that she was listening to the villain all along. I mean, think about it, Nico. Karolina had to have been  _five_ when Leslie started doing the sacrifices. Can you really blame her for not thinking anything of them?"

"Yes, I can! She's not five anymore, and she should know better." Even as Nico spoke, though, she knew her words weren't entirely true.

If Nico's mother and the people around her had taught her from a young age they needed to kill someone every year in order to hang onto their humanity, especially if she'd grown up watching these sacrifices take place, could she really say she would come to her senses at a certain age and try to stop them? No. Especially if she looked up to her mom as much as Karolina did.

"You and I both know that's bullshit," Gert said confidently.

"Maybe it is," Nico said with a sigh. "You're probably right."

"Then maybe you should talk to her," Gert said. "Karolina has never had anyone in her life before to tell her why sacrificing people is wrong. I'm not saying you have to forgive her or still date her or anything, but I do think you should give her a chance. She's not a kid anymore. She understands how the world is supposed to work, so it shouldn't be too hard to convince her that killing someone can never be good. And I'm sure she believes you now about her mom's true intentions for the ceremony anyway."

"And what makes you say that?" Nico asked, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips as she started to feel better.

Gert rolled her eyes, her sympathy falling away now that she knew Nico was no longer as upset. "She knows you would never take advantage of her, Nico. She believes you about the Staff. Now can we pick a table and eat lunch? I'm starving."

* * *

Karolina absolutely believed Nico about the Staff of One. She'd regretted what she'd said last night almost the minute Nico had left, and now she wanted nothing more than to apologize, to explain herself.

"So if a triangle has two equal sides, what type of triangle is it?" Mrs. Anderson, Karolina's teacher, asked.

"Umm…equilateral?" Karolina hadn't been paying any attention to the lesson all morning.

"Isosceles," Mrs. Anderson said with a frown.

That was the third wrong answer Karolina had given this morning, and Mrs. Anderson had only been here for fifteen minutes. Karolina needed to stop thinking about last night or Nico or anything other than math really. She needed to focus on what Mrs. Anderson was saying and nothing else.

She only listened for all of a minute before her thoughts were back at it again. The only reason she hadn't believed Nico last night was because she hadn't wanted to believe her. She hadn't wanted to believe that the Cleansing Ceremony, a ceremony that was supposed to keep the good in the world, had been an act of selfish evil all this time. Her  _mother's_ selfish evil. She hadn't wanted to believe that her mother was capable of anything other than good.

Try as she might, she eventually accepted the fact that she was never going to be able to pay attention to Mrs. Anderson's lecture today. What she was supposed to be learning here right now could never compare to what she'd learned with Nico last night.

When Karolina had talked to her mother that morning before Service, she hadn't been able to stop the questions from running through her head. If her mother had been lying about the Ceremony, what else had she lied about? Had she been lying about everything she taught in the Gibborim faith? Was she lying when she said she loved Karolina? The only thing Karolina knew was that she could no longer trust her mother, and that realization hurt more than anything else.

While that was the greatest hurt, it certainly wasn't the only one. The way she'd treated Nico last night hurt almost as much, and she found herself missing the other girl. She missed hearing Nico's voice and the sound of her laugh. She missed Nico's fierce love for the people she cared about, and she missed lying in Nico's arms. The way Nico's hold made Karolina feel safer than she'd felt in a long time, as if nothing would ever be able to hurt her again.

She was afraid Nico wasn't going to come back tonight, and that thought alone was almost too much to bear. Whenever she thought about Nico, there was a sharp ache in her gut, but she had a hard time thinking of anything else.

She was afraid Nico wasn't going to come back ever again.

A knock on her door finally drew her out of her rapid thoughts. Her teacher had come and gone, and she'd barely even noticed. She must have been so distracted in her response times that the woman had stopped bothering to even ask her questions. If she had to take any tests tomorrow, she was sure she would come to greatly regret her lack of attention today.

"Karolina, can I come in?"

It was her mother. Great. The last person she wanted to be around. Mrs. Anderson had probably told her mom she hadn't been paying attention, and now she was about to get in trouble.

"Yes," she answered.

Karolina heard the door open and the footsteps that meant her mother was walking inside. When the sound of the footsteps paused, she heard the sound of her mother pushing the door shut behind her and braced herself for whatever was going to come next.

"Are you okay, Karolina?" Leslie asked. "Mrs. Anderson told me you were very distracted today. What's wrong?"

Karolina wanted to shout that everything was wrong, that she wasn't okay, that she might never be okay again. How could she be after learning her mother had convinced everyone in this goddamn religion to help her murder innocent people so she could do powerful magic spells?

"I'm fine," she said instead.

She knew she needed to act natural. She couldn't have her mom realize what she'd found out. That would mean admitting she'd been seeing Nico, which meant she would surely never see Nico again, no matter if the other girl decided to come back or not. She wasn't doing a very good job of it, though. Her previous words had come out clipped and completely unconvincing.

"Is something bothering you, honey?" Leslie asked. "Are you struggling to understand something for school?"

"I don't even go to school, Mom," she snapped.

She couldn't control her anger. She was angry at this woman for lying to her all her life, for tricking her into going along with whatever she said was right. More than that, though, she was confused. Her mother sounded so concerned about her right now. She wasn't upset with Karolina for not paying attention to her teacher today; she was worried about her. Was it real worry, or was she just pretending to be worried? What would she even gain from pretending?

Karolina felt like her entire world had been tilted on its axis, and she couldn't even process one thought without falling over.

Footsteps approached where Karolina still sat at her desk chair, and a hand came down to rest on her shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze. "So that's what this is all about. We've talked about this, sweetheart. I've already agreed to get you enrolled in a real school next year, maybe even next semester if I can get you in that early."

She scoffed. "Why can't you just use your Leslie Dean power to get me in whenever you want to?"

The words were out before she could stop them, and she tried her best not to tense up under her mother's grip. She could not confront her mother about the Staff right now. Her mother didn't even  _have_ the Staff right now. Nico did.

"What power?" All traces of kindness were gone from Leslie's voice, replaced by sternness, and her hand fell away from Karolina's shoulder. And that's when Karolina knew for sure. Everything Nico had told her last night was true without a shadow of a doubt.

"Your power as the head of the Church, duh," Karolina said, pleased when her voice came out sounding like that of an annoyed teenager, easily playing off her earlier comment.

And just like that, the woman Karolina had known all her life was back, her voice soft as she responded, "That's not what my inner light tells me to do. Doing that would turn me to the darkness. Acting like I'm better than someone else to persuade them to do what I want wouldn't be very kind of me, would it?"

_But that's exactly what you do_ , Karolina wanted to say.  _You do it every time you lie to people about the Cleansing Ceremony so they'll help you sacrifice someone to your Staff, every time you allow someone to agree to give their life for a cause you completely made up._

"No, it wouldn't," she said instead.

"Why don't we put on a movie or something? To get your mind off things?"

It was the last thing Karolina wanted, but she should've expected it. Her mom always tried her best to cheer Karolina up whenever something was bothering her. And Karolina was always happy to accept. Today couldn't be any different.

"Okay, yeah," Karolina said, putting as much enthusiasm into her voice as she could muster. "I'd love that."

She could probably use this to her advantage. Entering into fictional worlds never failed to help Karolina feel better whenever she wasn't feeling the best in this one, so she had to admit that listening to a movie was a good idea. It would definitely get her mind off things, as her mother had suggested, even if the things she needed to get her mind off of weren't anything close to what Leslie thought they were.

* * *

When her mother finally left, Karolina didn't feel much better than she had earlier. In fact, she felt kind of worse. For some reason, she'd expected there to be something off about her mother today, now that Karolina knew the truth about the Cleansing Ceremony, but today was just like every other day. Her mother was every bit as caring and kind as she always was. Karolina couldn't understand how a woman who was always so kind to her could be capable of such terrible things. Was that how Nico had felt last night when she'd found out Karolina knew about the Ceremony?

Karolina's thoughts took hold of her mind as she sat on her bed and waited for Nico to show up, not letting up for an instant, no matter how hard she tried to push them away. As time went on, though, the train of thoughts her mind had been following switched tracks as she started to consider the very real possibility that Nico wasn't coming tonight. She'd been awful to her last night, and sure, Nico had frustrated her by telling her she was wrong to believe what she did, but she should've believed her about the Staff. Nico would never lie to her.

A knock on her door startled her out of her thoughts, and she reached for her bedside table, feeling for her alarm clock. Surely, it was still too early for Nico to be here. After pressing the familiar button on top of her clock, a voice read out the time. 10:30. Nico usually didn't show up until 11.

Was it actually possible that Nico had not only shown up but arrived earlier than usual? Karolina thought it was more likely that her mom had forgotten something or had decided to stay the night here with her.

"Karolina?" Nico's voice carried through the door.

After a moment of stunned silence, Karolina was off the bed in an instant, hurrying over to the door and pulling it open in record time. She wanted to apologize, explain herself, assure Nico that she believed her now, something, anything. But she found, in that moment, she couldn't get any words out at all. Nico was right in front of her now. Karolina had so much to say to her. Of course this would be the moment where Karolina's brain decided to short circuit and prohibit her from making a single sound.

"So, can I come in, or…?" Nico finally broke the awkward silence that had settled between them.

"Yes of course." Karolina stepped out of the doorway. "I was afraid you wouldn't be coming tonight."

"Yeah…" Nico sighed. "I shouldn't have been so hard on you last night. You were raised a lot differently than I was, and no matter how much I'd like to believe I wouldn't, I probably would've turned out the same if I were you, so…yeah."

Nico's voice had a nervous edge to it that Karolina hadn't been expecting. She'd fully expected Nico to come over here and demand an apology or at least be a little cold toward Karolina because of what had happened the night before, but Nico wasn't doing either of those things. Could Nico actually think she was the one who had been in the wrong? As far as Karolina was concerned, Nico hadn't done anything wrong.

" _You_ shouldn't have been so hard on  _me_?" Karolina asked. "I was the one who accused you of lying and taking advantage of me when I had no right to do that. I'm so sorry, Nico. Last night, I didn't want to believe my mom was a bad person, but you were right. The Cleansing Ceremony is all a sham to fuel the Staff of One. I know that now."

"Gert told me you might." Karolina thought she could detect the hint of a smile in Nico's voice, and she was relieved the other girl wasn't angry with her. She felt guilty that Nico was being so kind to her after the way she'd acted the night before, but she felt extremely grateful for it all the same. "I'm sorry too, though. I should've focused less on how I was feeling and tried harder to understand you."

"It's okay," Karolina said. "I know the Ceremony can be a lot for someone outside of our religion to take in. And I know it's wrong now. What my mom is doing is abhorrent, and I would never back her up on it."

"But if the Ceremony were true, then sacrificing would be okay?"

"Well, yeah," Karolina said easily. "That person would die a hero and save every member of the Gibborim religion from living a life of sin."

"Karolina, I want you to take a moment to really think about this," Nico said slowly, and Karolina sighed. She supposed she owed it to Nico to listen to whatever she was about to say. "You would never, ever take someone else's life away. No matter what. And your light is so much stronger than your darkness will ever be, but that's a part of who you are, not the result of some ceremony. Without the Cleansing Ceremony, you would never even think about taking someone's life away. This Ceremony forces you to support murder in the hopes that it will 'cleanse' your soul. But it won't. Killing someone doesn't cleanse anything at all."

A sick feeling pooled in Karolina's stomach. Nico was right. No matter how dark Karolina might get, she would never be okay with murdering someone. This sacrifice had her supporting her mother as she performed one of the darkest acts. All this time she'd thought the Ceremony would keep her connected to her inner light when the only thing that would actually do that was avoiding it all together, putting a stop to it.

"These sacrifices haven't been keeping me connected to the Spectrum at all, have they? They've been taking away from my light, driving me further and further into the darkness?"

"Maybe so," Nico said, "but it isn't your fault. Your mom had you convinced that you needed to do them. She's all you've ever had, and you thought she was the person you could trust more than anyone else in the world. But you know better now. It's not too late for you. And that's what matters."

Karolina shook her head, feeling a tear slide out of her eye and down her cheek. "What if it is, though? I've spent so much time with my mom, looked up to her for so long. I just… What if she's pushed me so far into the darkness that I can never find my way out again?"

Nico's hand cupped Karolina's cheek, a finger wiping away the teardrop. "Karolina, I've seen your light since the day we met, and I'm not talking about your glow. You have less darkness in you than anyone I've ever met. That's why I was so shocked to find out you were okay with this sacrificing business last night. No, the light inside of you, that warmth, that openness, that's everything that I like about you. That's what makes you who you are."

"Nico," Karolina said, feeling her lips turn up in the beginnings of a smile. She wanted to argue that it wasn't true, that no one who stood idly by while their mother killed an innocent person every year could possibly be so light, but she knew that Nico wouldn't agree. Nico believed in Karolina, even after everything that had happened, and Karolina wondered what she'd done to deserve such love—because that was what it was, wasn't it? The way Nico saw Karolina never ceased to amaze her, and she didn't think she'd ever grow tired of it.

"Can I kiss you now?" Nico's hand slid down to rest against the side of Karolina's neck.

Karolina didn't think she'd ever nodded so quickly in her life, and a second later, Nico's lips were pressed against hers. She gripped the back of Nico's neck, fingers curling into the hair there, and kissed her hard. She'd thought it a possibility she would never get to do this again, so she relished every clash of their tongues and press of their bodies together.

Almost the minute she'd started kissing Nico, Karolina had felt the familiar warmth that meant her skin was finally glowing again. She'd taken her bracelet off hours ago, but she'd been too worried about the outcome of the night to get herself to light up. Now she found she couldn't stop herself from glowing. She much preferred the second struggle to the first.

"You're all lit up again," Nico said when they pulled apart to catch their breath.

"I guess you have that effect on me." Karolina grinned.

Nico reached up to wrap her arms around Karolina's back and pulled her in close for a hug, which Karolina eagerly returned. All day, she'd felt like everything had been turned upside down, but this small action righted it. Yes, she'd found out so many things in her life were built upon lies, but her relationship with Nico wasn't, and that was the one thing she could be sure of. No matter what happened, she'd always have Nico to share it with.

"You're not your mother, Karolina," Nico said reassuringly. "You have so much good in you, and I'm sorry you had to find out she isn't the person you thought she was. Yes, she's done horrible things and lied to a lot of people, but we're gonna put an end to it. We can fix everything that she broke."

As she held Nico tightly in her arms, Karolina hoped, more than anything, that she was right.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico and her friends make an unsettling discovery about the Ceremony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been meaning to post every week, and I obviously haven't been doing that, so I'm going to stop making promises I can't keep and update whenever I am ready to. I'm sorry for the lack of content lately. I've just been busy with work stuff and sorting out my schedule. But I have gotten a chapter ahead of this one, even though I neglected to post this one, so I will be posting again very soon! I hope you all have been doing well and that you enjoy the chapter :)

As Nico arrived in her anatomy classroom, she hurried to get on her apron and safety goggles before making her way over to her lab station. She'd spent her lunch period in the library studying for a big history test that she would take this afternoon, and she'd lost track of the time, almost entirely missing the sound of the bell that signified the end of lunch period.

Chase and Gert were already waiting for her as she sat down beside them at station twelve. Anatomy was the only class the three of them had together. While it was usually boring and uneventful because they had assigned seats during regular class days, they lived for the lab periods where they got a chance to spend more time together.

"So about last night," Chase said as their teacher began distributing hearts to each group. "What happened when you talked to Karolina?"

"There's not really much to tell," Nico said. "She already believed I wasn't lying, like Gert said she would, and we're back on good terms now, like I told all of you this morning. Now shouldn't we be dissecting this heart?"

Nico gestured to the tray that had just been placed in front of them. She knew they wanted to hear more of the details from last night, but not much had actually happened. Nico had ensured Karolina that what her mother was doing wasn't her fault and that things would be okay, but there hadn't been any new developments in the mystery. As far as Nico was concerned, the mystery was pretty much solved.

"I guess we should at least pretend we're doing something." Gert picked up a scalpel.

"We need to figure out what the plan is." Chase picked up his scalpel as well.

"The plan is to be able to tell the difference between the pulmonary arteries and the pulmonary veins before we have to leave class." Nico glanced back and forth between the diagram in her book and the very real heart sitting in front of her.

"But what should we do with the file?" Chase asked. "We can't just hold onto it and pretend we never found it."

"I think we need to take it to the police," Gert said before Nico could even respond.

Nico was shaking her head before Gert even finished speaking. "We can't take it to the police. Leslie could have someone on the inside, and we can't risk someone getting rid of our evidence or tipping Leslie off to the fact that someone knows what she's been up to."

"Then we post it online." Gert noticed the teacher looking up at them and started poking around at their heart. "The police can't ignore it if everyone sees it and knows about it. They would have to do something, or someone else would."

The idea wasn't half bad, Nico had to admit that. But a big part of her didn't want the authorities to find out about this. She didn't want to sit back and let someone else take care of Leslie. Sure, Nico had played an active part in finding the information that would eventually bring her down, but she wanted to be the one to stop the sacrifices herself. She wanted to be the one to avenge Amy.

She was also concerned about Karolina. According to her, everyone in her religion went along with these sacrifices, herself included. Could Leslie really be brought to justice without taking everyone else with her?

"I don't think we should do anything yet," she said. "We don't even know for sure that Leslie is going to continue the sacrifices. I mean, without the Staff, they're pointless, right?"

Chase stopped cutting their heart in half to look up at her. "Why not take her down regardless? I don't believe for a second that you'd let her get away with killing Amy."

"Maybe I just don't want the information to be so public," Nico said. "Yes, Leslie's the one who orchestrated this whole ceremony, but isn't everyone else just as guilty for going along with it? I don't want to chance Karolina being punished."

"You think she would be?" he asked. "I mean, she's only a kid, and she's been a part of that religion all her life."

"I don't know," Nico admitted, "but it's not something I want to risk. Not to mention, Leslie will probably argue that we typed the document up ourselves."

"And what do you propose we do then?" Gert placed her hands on her hips.

"I think we should try to stop her ourselves," Nico suggested. "If we catch her in the act, we can take pictures or a video or  _something_ for everyone to see and make sure Karolina's not a part of it. Plus, if we do this ourselves, we can confront Leslie and finally get the full truth about what happened to Amy. Don't you think we deserve that? We have the Staff of One now. We have all the power here."

"If we want to do this ourselves, then we better come up with a good plan soon." Chase finished cutting their heart into halves so they could see the inside. "We don't have much time left."

"What do you mean?" Nico asked, more confused by his sentence than she was by the inside of the heart in front of her.

"All the previous sacrifices happened the first week of October," Chase pointed out, "which is next week."

_If Leslie is going to sacrifice someone this year, then that's when she'll do it._  A dizzying sensation flooded through Nico. She'd been so caught up in everything else that was going on that she'd failed to connect the dots. She'd noticed the kids all went missing around the same time of year, but she hadn't once stopped to think about what that time of year's imminent approach meant for her this year.

"Maybe the first part of our plan should be to figure out exactly when this year's sacrifice is supposed to happen," Chase continued when he was met only by shocked silence. "Then we can figure out where to go from there."

"You're right," Nico agreed. "If Karolina doesn't already know the date herself, then I'm sure it wouldn't be hard for her to find out."

"You'll ask her tonight?" Gert asked.

"I'll ask her tonight," Nico confirmed.

"Right now, though," Chase said. "I think we need to ask our teacher where the tricuspid valve is."

* * *

That night, Nico was relieved to see Karolina glowing again. She knew these past few days hadn't been easy on her, so it was nice to see their negative effects finally wearing off. The glow was dim, but it was there, and it still lit up the space around her in a way that made Nico decide not to turn on the light in her room, even if that made it difficult for her to see where she was going. She could see Karolina, and that was all that mattered.

"How was school?" Karolina asked after they'd kissed hello and settled atop her bed.

"Eventful," Nico settled on saying. She had so much to say to Karolina, but she felt like she couldn't say it yet, not until she'd made sure her girlfriend had been all right today. "How are you holding up?"

"Okay." Karolina shrugged in a way that made Nico think her day had been less than okay. "It feels so weird being around my mom right now, that's all. I've been thinking there's going to be some drastic change in her now that I know the truth about what she's been doing, but…everything's exactly the same as it's always been."

"That's because your mom doesn't know anything's different," Nico said. "She doesn't know you found out the truth about the Ceremony."

"I know, I know," Karolina said. "It's just been really hard not to confront her about it."

"You'll be able to talk to her about everything sooner than you think." Nico sighed.

"What do you mean?" Karolina's blue eyes went wide. "Are you turning her in to the police?"

"Of course not," Nico assured her. "I would never decide something like that without talking to you about it first."

"Good." Karolina's whole body seemed to sigh in relief as she relaxed. "I mean, I know she's a murderer, but she's still my mom. I don't know what I want to do about this yet."

"I totally get that," Nico said, "but I want to remind you the Ceremony is coming up again soon. Next week sometime. Chase reminded me and Gert today that all of the previous sacrifices have been done in the first week of October, and we were wondering if you could ask your mom for the exact date."

Karolina's posture went rigid once more at the news. Her glow dimmed so much that Nico could barely see it, and she wished she'd made the decision to turn on the light.

"My mom is going to expect me to go to the Ceremony this year and act like nothing's wrong. But I can't let her kill another innocent person. I—can't—"

"Karolina, calm down." Nico grabbed both of Karolina's hands, giving her something to focus on so she didn't get caught up in her own head. "We're not going to let your mom kill anyone else. That's why we want to know when she plans on having the Ceremony. So we can stop the sacrifice from happening."

"Stop it? How?"

"We have the Staff of One," Nico pointed out. "There has to be something we can do. We just have to figure out how to use it."

"You're right." Karolina nodded, probably trying to convince herself as much as Nico of the words she was saying. "We'll be fine. And yes, I'll ask my mom about it. It'll all work out."

The tremors in Karolina's hands, which Nico still held in her own, betrayed her worry, and Nico wanted nothing more than for all of this to be over. How great would it be once Leslie was in prison? Karolina could go to school, and Nico could finally have justice for Amy, like she'd wanted ever since the night she'd died. Even more than that, though, Karolina and Nico could be together outside of the Church of Gibborim. There would be nothing left standing in their way.

After Amy had died, Nico hadn't thought a happy future would even be possible for her anymore, not without her sister in it. But now there was a very real possibility of a future with Karolina. A future that Nico finally allowed herself to think had a good chance of being happy.

Nico pulled Karolina against her, taking comfort in the feel of the girl in her arms and hoping she was providing the same comfort for Karolina as well. She kissed the side of Karolina's head, combing her fingers through hair that was blonde with a hint of rainbow. "It  _will_ work out, Karo. We don't even know for sure that your mom will do a sacrifice this year, so don't worry too much. There's no reason for her to kill anyone without the Staff of One."

Karolina didn't respond, and Nico hoped what she'd said had helped. It was the thought she'd taken comfort in all day, the one that kept her from worrying too much about what might happen next week. Maybe Amy truly had put an end to the sacrifices already. What was the point of killing people in the name of a magic Staff you no longer possessed?

"She'll do the sacrifice anyway," Karolina finally murmured. "Everyone believes in the Cleansing Ceremony for all of the reasons my mom taught us to. They count on it and look forward to it every year as our most holy ritual. She can't back out of it now just because she no longer gets anything out of it, not without admitting to everyone that she's a total fraud."

And just like that, Karolina shattered all of Nico's hope and confidence like a bullet breaking through glass.

* * *

The sound of Karolina's alarm going off pulled her from her blissful sleep back into harsh reality. The Cleansing Ceremony was next week, which meant that Karolina and Nico only had a few days to figure out how to stop it. Whatever happened, there was no way Karolina could actually attend. She couldn't possibly sit idly by as her mom killed yet another innocent person. And if she protested the sacrifice, she'd have to admit everything she knew. She'd have to admit how she'd even found anything out in the first place and who she'd found it with.

Karolina had never known her mother to be a violent person, but it seemed there were a lot of things she didn't know about Leslie Dean. She couldn't help but be afraid of what her mother might do to her if she found out Karolina knew the truth. Would her mother be cross with her, kick her out even, or would she do something more sinister? What would happen to Karolina if her mom found out the great extent of her newfound knowledge? She might ask Karolina to join her, which she, of course, couldn't do. So what happened when Karolina rejected her?

She didn't want to find out. She and Nico needed to make sure Leslie didn't find out a damn thing until they had some sort of authorities present, someone to protect them from a woman who might be more of a monster.

When her mother knocked on her door after several minutes had gone by, Karolina jumped. She'd been so deep in thought that she hadn't moved since she'd woken up. She was supposed to be getting ready for Service.

"Karolina, honey, are you okay?" Leslie asked after entering the room.

On instinct, Karolina dipped her head to hide whatever emotions might have been swirling in her eyes. Only to realize a moment later that angling her face away was probably just as suspicious.

"I'm fine," she said, even though she knew her mother wasn't going to buy it.

Leslie knew Karolina better than anyone else, something Karolina had once thought of as a good thing. Now it was a dangerous thing, an easy way to fall into a trap. She wondered if maybe her mother had spent so much time with her not because she cared about her at all but because she wanted to be able to easily read her. Maybe Karolina was as much her pawn as anyone else was.

The rustling of clothes drew Karolina's attention in front of her as Leslie crouched down, presumably to look at her daughter, placing a hand upon her Karolina's knee. "You haven't seemed like yourself these past couple days. Are you sure everything's all right?"

It didn't matter how many times Karolina claimed she was fine. Her mother knew by now that something was up, so Karolina needed to lie the way she'd lied when her mom had questioned her about who had broken into the Church the first night Nico had visited. Back then, it had felt like someone else had taken over Karolina and guided her to all the right words to say. Because keeping Nico's secret had been important to her. So was this. She could easily lie her way out of this if she didn't panic. She could even use the situation to her advantage.

"I haven't been feeling like myself either," Karolina admitted. "The Cleansing Ceremony is soon, isn't it?"

"That's right," her mother said easily. "October 5. Next Friday."

"Good. I'm looking forward to it," she lied. "I've been feeling myself getting lost in the darkness quite a bit lately. I can't wait to strengthen my connection with the light again. I always feel so much better after the Ceremony, don't you?"

"Of course I do," Leslie said warmly. "It's a holy moment for all of us."

Nothing. Karolina had hoped she'd hear some sort of regret in her mother's voice, but there was nothing. Her mom didn't feel any sort of guilt about the fact that she was going to be murdering another innocent kid next week. She didn't even feel guilty for lying about the purpose of the Ceremony, to Karolina and everyone else in this Church.

Everything her mother did had always seemed genuine and honest. The amount of love Leslie held for Karolina had Karolina sure her mother would never lie to her or do anything to hurt her at all. In reality, Leslie had been lying to Karolina for years, maybe even since day one, and that hurt her more than anything.

If it was so easy for Leslie to lie about the Cleansing Ceremony to a whole church full of people, how could Karolina possibly differentiate between the times her mother was lying and the times she wasn't? How did she know her mother wasn't lying about every single thing she said? She didn't, she realized.

She didn't even know her mother at all.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico practices using the Staff of One.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, here is the next chapter! Enjoy!

Next Friday. The sacrifice was going to be held next Friday, and while Nico had already known it would be next week and should have felt grateful it was at the end of the week instead of the beginning, she still felt like she didn't have enough time to prepare. How were she and her friends going to stop Leslie Dean all on their own? She was starting to think that maybe they should just take their evidence to the authorities and hope for the best, even though she knew it wasn't a plausible option. She couldn't risk the police dismissing her claims or Leslie saying she'd made everything up. If she wanted Leslie to truly be brought to justice, Nico was going to have to do it herself.

Which was why she and her friends were all gathered at Chase's house after school. If they were going to confront Leslie Dean, they couldn't all go charging into the Church without any form of a plan. They needed to work carefully and methodically if they wanted to keep the upper hand.

"It all seems pretty simple to me," Gert said when Nico asked for ideas. "You use the Staff to make yourself invisible, take a video of the sacrifice, and then we post it online later. Leslie goes to jail, and we turn the Staff over to the police to destroy."

"But then we miss the opportunity to question Leslie about what happened to Amy," Chase pointed out. "I think someone should go in with Nico, get the video, and then leave before she goes up to question Leslie."

"That's way too dangerous," Gert argued. "You'd really leave your best friend to question a murderer all on her own?"

"She'd have the Staff for protection. Not to mention, there would be a whole congregation of people gathered there."

"Why would Leslie even say anything in front of all her people?"

"I don't want to take a video of the sacrifice," Nico interrupted. "I want to stop it from happening in the first place. Are we seriously gonna let Leslie kill another kid?"

"She's right," Chase said. "We have to stop her. Nico has the Staff, and I've been working on something for a while now that we might be able to use as well."

"The Fistagons?" Nico knew exactly what he was talking about. "You really think those things are gonna work?"

"Would I be designing them if I didn't?" Chase asked.

"No, but you've been working on them for years. What makes you think you can have them ready in a week?"

"I'm actually really close to finishing them now. I was going to make it a surprise, but we might actually really need them, so…"

Chase had been working on his Fistagons since eighth grade, but it had been so long since he'd mentioned them that Nico had almost forgotten about them. Of course, she'd never believed the gloves would actually work, and maybe she still didn't, but that didn't stop her from hoping with everything inside of her that they would. She and her friends needed all the help they could get against Leslie.

"What the hell are Fistagons?" Gert asked, drawing Nico and Chase's attention to two sisters with twin looks of confusion on their faces.

"You never told them about the Fistagons?" Nico turned an incredulous look on Chase. He'd talked about them so much around Nico when he'd first started making them that she was sure they were a topic he brought up to everyone at that age.

"I didn't want Gert to tell me they were stupid." Chase rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment before turning his gaze back to Gert. "The Fistagons are basically these gauntlets that are going to shoot electricity."

"Is that even possible?" Gert arched an eyebrow at him.

"I think so," Chase answered. "I've almost got them—"

"Can we get back on topic please?" Nico interrupted. "We need to come up with a plan to take Leslie down. Yes, if the Fistagons are ready, they'll be a great help to us, but how are we going to use them? What are we going to do?"

"What if we just tell the Staff to stop the sacrifice?" Molly spoke up for the first time in minutes. "You said it would do whatever you told it to, right?"

"According to Leslie," Nico said, "but what if that doesn't work? I mean, why would the Staff stop a sacrifice that's being given for it? We can try doing that, but we definitely need a backup plan."

"Then we fight her." Molly shrugged as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Easier said than done," Nico said. "Sure, I have the Staff, but Leslie has powers that we probably don't even know the half of. Karolina can glow and fly, but Leslie doesn't tell her shit. Who knows what else the two of them can do?"

"Maybe Karolina could find out more?" Molly suggested.

"Probably not." Even Gert knew that wasn't going to happen. "But she could help us, couldn't she? Leslie trusts her, so she could probably help us get close to her. I mean, Leslie would never expect her own daughter, who she raised to be her loyal follower, to turn against her."

"No." Nico immediately shook her head. "Karolina's not having any part in this. I don't want her getting hurt."

"Karolina's already going to be at the Ceremony, Nico," Chase pointed out. "Shouldn't we use that to our advantage?"

"I don't want her even going to the damn thing in the first place," Nico said. "She can pretend to be sick or something."

Nico knew how ridiculous she sounded, but this was dangerous stuff, and Nico wanted Karolina as far away from it as possible. She would take Karolina away from the damn Church if she had to. Nico refused to lose Karolina to Leslie the way she'd lost Amy. If anyone was getting hurt this time around, Nico was going to make sure it was her and only her.

"What a great idea." Gert's voice dripped with sarcasm. "Leslie will see right through that lie, and then she'll know something's up. We can't have Karolina lose her trust. If Karolina admits everything to Leslie, then Leslie could use Karolina as leverage to keep us under control. Can you really tell me you wouldn't hand the Staff of One right over to Leslie if Karolina's life was at stake?"

Of course Nico wanted to protest, but she had no good arguments. She'd easily exchange the life of one teenager for Karolina's life. She'd exchange a thousand lives to save Karolina. She knew Amy would be disappointed in her for even thinking such a thing, but there was nothing she could do to prevent herself from feeling that way.

She supposed that was exactly why Karolina needed to go to the Ceremony and pretend nothing was wrong. Gert was right. If Leslie found out what Karolina knew, there was a great chance she would use her own daughter against Nico, and then the whole plan would be for nothing. No matter how hard it was going to be, Nico was going to have to find a way to be okay with Karolina going to that Ceremony.

"Fine," Nico relented, "but Karolina stays out of the plan for now."

Gert rolled her eyes. "For now, let's just plan on having fighting practice with the Staff. Someone can pretend to be Leslie, and we can work out the best methods of fighting her in action."

Nico nodded in agreement, but she knew it wouldn't make much difference. While getting used to the power of the Staff would be helpful, fighting each other would in no way prepare them for fighting Leslie. Not only was she an adult, but she had powers that the four of them had no way of knowing or replicating. The best way to practice would be with Karolina as Leslie, but there was no way Nico was bringing the Staff of One anywhere near that Church again until it was time for the sacrifice.

Molly looked like she was going to add something when the door opened and Janet appeared, and Molly promptly shut her mouth, not wanting Chase's mom to think anything was amiss.

"Hi, girls, it's so good to see all of you again," Janet said with a smile, and Nico knew she meant it. She loved having company over even more than Nico's own mom did.

"Good to see you too, Mrs. S," Nico said with a wide grin.

"I got off work early tonight and am in the mood to celebrate." Janet was the kind of person who was grateful for the little things in life, something Nico actually admired. "What do you say we all go out for some pizza?"

She was met with a chorus of yeses, and Nico's stomach growled at the thought of pizza as Janet gestured for them all to follow her downstairs to the car. Exchanging a charged glance with her friends, she saw they were all in agreement that they would continue their topic of conversation later. It was also clear that everyone was more than willing to put the conversation on hold at the mention of food.

* * *

 It felt weird holding the Staff of One now that Nico knew what it had been used for. But not because she was afraid of all the power it held. No, holding the Staff of One felt weird because it still felt so natural to her to be holding it despite what she knew it had done in the past.

She, Gert, and Molly had decided to practice using the Staff after school in her backyard. Chase had wanted to come as well, but he had lacrosse practice, and he would just be an extra target anyway. As this was Nico's first day of practice with the object, she thought it would probably be best if she started off small, with only two attackers instead of three.

The minute Nico had touched the Staff of One, she'd felt its energy thrumming through her veins. She was still nervous to use it again, of course, but she was also ready in a way she hadn't been before. Maybe it was because of everything that would be at stake at the end of next week.

"Should we both pretend to be Leslie at the same time, or do you want us to take turns?" Molly asked.

"Same time," Nico answered easily. "She may only be one person, but she has the advantage with her powers, so I'll give you an advantage in number."

"Okay," Molly said, "so we just run at you to try to get the Staff away from you, right?"

"I'm going to assume that's what Leslie will do when I show up with it," Nico said.

Molly and Gert both nodded in response, and Nico braced herself for their attacks. They both lunged for her at the exact same time, and Nico quickly raised the Staff in front of her and said the first words that came to mind.  _"Pillow fight."_

The words came to Nico just as easily as they had the first time, but she wasn't all that surprised this time around. The more time she spent around the Staff of One, the more it was becoming clear to her that she had a natural affinity for magic.

At her words, a pillow materialized from the Staff and smacked Molly in the torso before she could get more than a few feet. After taking Molly out, the younger girl pretending to have been hit with something more harmful than a pillow, Nico quickly angled the Staff toward Gert and was about to say the spell again when another pillow hit Gert in the midsection as well. It seemed she'd summoned an endless stream of pillows, as they kept materializing and launching themselves across the yard, even after both Gert and Molly had stopped moving, Gert with her hands on her hips.

"You really think you're gonna stop Leslie with a stream of pillows?"

"You really think I'm gonna hurt you?" Nico returned. "How about complimenting my quick reaction time and good aim?"

"Good aim?" Gert scoffed. "Like it was hard to hit us with huge-ass pillows."

Nico rolled her eyes. "There's nothing stopping me from hitting Leslie with something just as large, like a rock."

"And what if she incinerates it with some power you didn't even know about?" Gert pointed out. "I think a big rock would be a lot easier to burn out of existence than something smaller."

Nico had to resist the urge to roll her eyes again. Gert was so skeptical all the time, and while her skepticism provided good insight into things, Nico found it annoying. Sure, she had a good point, but Nico wished she'd at least wait more than two seconds to say it.

" _Superball."_ A quick succession of superballs flew from the Staff and launched an attack on Gert's side as Nico smirked. "Better?"

"Ow." Gert tried to dodge the line of fire, but Nico was too quick for her, keeping the Staff trained on her with every move. "I would come over there and rip that thing right out of your hands if I wasn't mildly afraid of it."

"How about we use those squishy foam balls that we used to play with in the pool?" Molly suggested, stepping between the two girls. "They're smaller than pillows and softer than superballs."

"I suppose we can do that," Nico said, and Gert shrugged in return.

Sometimes, Nico forgot how easy it was for her and Gert to butt heads and how difficult it could be for the two of them to stop arguing once they started. Of course, any arguments they might have were easily resolved when Molly or Chase inevitably ran interference, and then they went right back to normal.

Or as normal as things could get nowadays.

Nico's next choice of weapon was exactly what Molly had suggested, and she put up a good fight, launching balls like missiles to keep the girls away from her and the Staff of One. Only when Nico let herself get too focused on Gert was Molly able to launch a sneak attack and tackle her to the ground.

Nico grunted as her back hit the grass and she lost her grip on the Staff of One. She barely got a moment to recover, though, before Gert was standing over her, pelting her with a couple of the balls she'd picked up off the ground.

"Oh, it's on." Nico was up in an instant, grabbing a ball from the lawn and flinging it at Gert, hitting her square in the forehead.

"Hey." Gert quickly bent down to retrieve another ball as Nico did the same.

"I like where this is going," Molly said with an amused smile before tossing the ball she'd been holding at Nico, effectively joining the fight herself.

After several minutes of these wild shenanigans, Gert declared herself the victor after hitting Nico and Molly with two balls in one throw. Nico had had so much fun that she didn't even care who won, really. All she could do was laugh along with the others. Until her eyes fell back upon the Staff of One.

"Shit. We need to be taking this seriously." Nico grabbed the Staff from where it lay abandoned in the grass.

"There's not much we can do, Nico," Gert said. "It's definitely important to practice using the Staff of One, but it looks to me like you already know how to use it. It's hard to really practice fighting Leslie when we don't have the powers she has, and you're actively trying to avoid hurting us. That's not gonna do much to prepare you for what's actually going to happen on October 5."

"Gert's right," Molly agreed. "I don't think it will be hard for you. You'll be able to stop Leslie from doing the sacrifice and keep her contained until the police arrive with just a couple little spells."

_If the Staff even allows me to stop the sacrifice,_  Nico thought. Leslie could've even programmed it to prevent it from stopping her Ceremony from taking place in case anything like this ever happened. She didn't voice her concerns aloud, though. She was grateful for her friends' support and optimism and didn't want to bring the mood down with all of her realism.

"Should be easy enough." Nico nodded. "I'll stop the sacrifice, force Leslie to tell me the truth about what she did to Amy, and then we'll get Karolina away from that Church before the cops arrive."

That was the plan they'd already agreed to, but Nico needed to say it out loud, to speak it into the air as if there was no chance it wasn't going to work. Gert and Molly both nodded in agreement. Nico wondered if they were as confident in their plan as she had just sounded or if they too had their doubts about everything going smoothly.

"Nothing will go wrong." Nico put as much conviction into her voice as she could muster.

No matter how much she tried to convince herself everything would go smoothly, Nico couldn't shake her doubt. Leslie had been getting away with these sacrifices for years. She had to have something up her sleeve. Not to mention, Nico had a huge vulnerability when it came to Karolina. If Leslie found out how much Nico cared about her daughter, it wouldn't be hard for her to use Karolina to bring Nico down.

"Nothing will go wrong," Gert repeated, sounding a lot surer of herself than Nico was. "We have a Staff here that can do literally anything. I don't see how Leslie can even possibly compete with that."

Maybe Gert was right. Maybe Leslie wouldn't find out how much Nico cared about Karolina, and everything would be fine. Because Karolina was the only thing that would stop Nico from doing anything she had to in order to survive. As long as Leslie didn't threaten Karolina's life, maybe what she and Gert had said would be true. Nico wished there was a way to keep Karolina away from the Ceremony completely without Leslie realizing she knew something or without at least throwing off their element of surprise.

"I guess you're right," Nico begrudgingly admitted.

She wasn't sure she completely believed it, but she figured it would be beneficial for her to try her best to.

"Good." Gert pushed herself up from where she had settled on the ground. "Then let's go inside and help Molly brainstorm ideas for her science fair project."

Nico pushed herself to her feet as well, turning to follow Gert in the direction of the house, but she stopped in her tracks when she felt Molly's hand on her arm before she could even take more than single step.

"You might want to clean up the yard first." Molly gestured to the many balls and few pillows littering the lawn. "I don't know how we'd explain this to Tina."

"Pillow fight dodgeball game?" Nico laughed, raising the Staff.  _"Clean yard."_

All the balls and pillows vanished instantly at Nico's command, even the few that had rolled into the pool, and Nico gave a satisfied nod before following her friends into the house. The more she used the Staff of One, the more she had to admit that she could see why Leslie loved it so much. Holding the Staff of One gave its user so much power that it was going to be a bit difficult for even Nico to give it up. As great as it was, though, it would never be worth taking people's lives over. So what made Leslie think it was?


	16. Chapter 16

Two days. That was how much time Karolina had before her mother would be sacrificing another kid. That was how much time Karolina had to prepare herself to sit through that Ceremony again.

What if Nico failed to stop her mother? What if she was too late? So many things could go wrong, and Karolina didn't like that she wasn't a part of the plan. Karolina didn't want to sit around and do nothing while Nico and her friends took care of everything. She wanted to help them. She wanted to hurt her mother as much as her mother had hurt her.

Karolina still couldn't reconcile the mom she'd known her whole life with the woman who murdered a kid every year, who'd murdered Nico's sister, and she was tired of wondering which one of them was real.

Everyone rose to their feet around Karolina, clothes rustling and feet scuffling, and Karolina hurried to rise with them. She knew she was supposed to be paying attention during Service, trying her best to connect with her inner light in this time seemingly composed of nothing but darkness. Every time someone would sneeze or whisper to the person beside them, though, Karolina couldn't help but wonder if this would be one of the last Services that person ever attended, if that person would become the next sacrifice.

That thought would lead Karolina to wonder how her mother could possibly live with herself when she asked someone to give up their life for a cause she made up, which in turn led to the question of whether Leslie had ever even cared about anyone at all.

It was a never-ending loop, and Karolina didn't know how to get out of it.

"Karolina, you okay? Service is over."

A voice snapped Karolina out of her thoughts. Vaughn. One of the younger members of the congregation. While they weren't particularly close, he'd always been kind to Karolina. In fact, they'd sat together during the Cleansing Ceremony last year. She remembered because he'd shown up at the door to her room to walk her there, ever the gentleman, even though she didn't need any assistance in the Church.

"I know. I was going to stay after to pray a little more. Like my mom said, the Cleansing Ceremony is coming up, and I want to make sure I'm ready for it."

Lying to Vaughn was even easier than lying to her mom, and as was becoming usual lately, she wanted to use the lie to her advantage. She wanted to test Vaughn's reaction to see if he had any misgivings about the sacrifice. Surely, someone as kind as him had to feel at least a little guilty about sacrificing someone each year.

"Thank the spectrum it's almost here," Vaughn said. "October is the best time of year."

"You're completely cool with it then?" Karolina pressed. His calm and laidback demeanor right now had to be an act, although she hadn't detected any strain in his voice. "It doesn't bother you that we have to sacrifice someone to keep our connection with the spectrum?"

Vaughn was silent for several moments before he answered, and Karolina was sure she'd caught him. He was about to admit the truth to her any second now. Maybe she could use this to her advantage. There were bound to be some members of the Church who weren't as okay with sacrificing people as everyone else. Maybe she could pull together a group of people to help Nico.

"Sacrifice someone? Karolina, what on earth are you talking about?"

Every ounce of Karolina's hope and excitement at being able to help out vanished the moment Vaughn spoke. He was pranking her. He had to be. Karolina would never choose to joke about this kind of thing, but perhaps Vaughn was a prankster. She didn't know him all that well. That was the only logical explanation.

She knew deep down, though, that he was telling the truth, no matter how impossible it seemed. He'd sounded way too confused to have only been joking.

"Vaughn, come on. You were standing right next to me at the Ceremony last year. You really expect me to believe you don't know about the sacrifices?"

"Oh, I was there," Vaughn said. "I said all the prayers and responses to connect me to the spectrum, but there was no sacrifice, Karolina."

Maybe the sacrifice had been done while Vaughn was in the bathroom or something, and he'd missed it. She knew it was a ridiculous thought the minute it ran through her head, though. Vaughn had been with the Church for years. He couldn't possibly have missed the sacrifice.

"But…you were there… You witnessed it." Karolina didn't know what else to say. She couldn't accept this, didn't want to accept the new revelation that was blossoming in her mind.

"I was there, but there was no sacrifice, I swear it." Vaughn was talking to Karolina like she was a child, but she was way too overwhelmed to care. "We said our prayers, responded during the group prayers with Leslie, and then we went home. That's all that happened."

"I don't know what kind of joke you're playing, but it's not funny anymore. I  _know_ I'm right."

But Karolina knew the truth now. There was no sacrifice. There had never been any sacrifice at all. Not in Vaughn's mind and not in the minds of any of the other members of the Church. Karolina's mom had wiped their memories with the Staff of One, but she had left Karolina's intact. All this time, Karolina had been the only person Leslie had truly fooled.

"Karolina, I want you to know that I say this with the utmost care, but is there any chance you could've made up the part about the sacrifice in your head? Like maybe you took the offering up of souls a bit more literally than the rest of us? I mean, you can't exactly, you know, see what's happening at the Ceremony."

"Maybe I did." Karolina tried to smile, but she knew it was wobbly at best. "I probably read too many scary stories when I was younger."

"Probably." Vaughn tried his best to laugh it off, but Karolina could easily hear it wasn't genuine. He was worried about her. He probably thought she was crazy. He was definitely going to tell her mom.

"Please don't tell my mom about this." Her voice came out barely above a whisper. "She's got so much going on with the Ceremony coming up. I just—I'm fine. It's been a long year."

"Okay, Karolina, if you're sure," he said.

He sounded uncertain, but Karolina only nodded. Maybe he would tell her mom, and maybe he wouldn't, but Karolina didn't want to find out what would happen if her mom knew she knew everything. If her mom tried to question her about this, she'd have to play it off like she didn't care, like she thought Vaughn was the crazy one. She'd gotten good at lying. Vaughn telling her mom about this was the least of her problems.

No matter what Vaughn thought about the Ceremony, Karolina knew there was a sacrifice, and there always had been. Not only did she have written proof on that file she and Nico had stolen from her mom's computer, but also the sacrifice was an integral part of the Cleansing Ceremony itself. Her mom blatantly talked about the sacrifice all throughout the Ceremony, everyone responded to bless the sacrifice, and the sacrifice himself or herself would even respond. And they had to see it. They all had to see it. But no one remembered it.

No one except her.

All this time, Karolina had been the only one who'd actually been okay with sacrificing someone. No one else knew what they were doing at all. They were all being forced, but Karolina had been a willing participant. Her mom truly had turned her into the perfect little follower.

The big question then was, would there even be a sacrifice this year at the Ceremony? If no one knew about the sacrifices besides Karolina, and Leslie no longer had the Staff, what would be the point in her even doing the sacrifice anyway? And how would she do it without someone going to the authorities? Without the Staff of One, she wouldn't be able to brainwash the members of the Church to go along with the sacrifice during the Ceremony, and she wouldn't be able to wipe their memories clean of the event afterwards. Doing a sacrifice this year would only lead to complete chaos, and Leslie Dean was way too smart for that.

An icy cold shiver ran down Karolina's spine as a new realization popped into her head, another part of the Cleansing Ceremony that might have been nothing but an act. What if every single person who had been sacrificed to this date had never really been a willing participant at all?

* * *

The closer it got to the day of the sacrifice, the more anxious Nico was getting. She knew she would have the upper hand because she knew about the sacrifices and she had the Staff of One, but she still couldn't help but be scared she was going to die. It wasn't like she knew what she was going up against exactly. But she refused to share the same fate as her sister. She needed to be the one to put a stop to this. For the teens of the Gibborim religion. For Amy.

When Nico reached the Church of Gibborim that night, she found the door to Karolina's room open, and she entered the room and turned on the light to see the blonde lying on her bed, eyes red and puffy from crying. If Nico thought dealing with the upcoming sacrifice was going to be hard for her, she knew it would be ten times harder for Karolina.

As it seemed to be most nights now, Karolina's skin was devoid of the brilliant colors that usually swirled across it. Nico's eyes flicked to her wrist just to be sure. No bracelet.

"Karolina," Nico said to make her presence known. She crossed the room in an instant, sitting on the edge of the bed to be near the other girl. She didn't touch her, though. She didn't know if Karolina wanted to be touched right now, and she didn't want to risk upsetting her further.

"Nico." Sobs bubbled up Karolina's throat again as she sat up, moving over into Nico's arms, and Nico readily wrapped her arms around her.

"Shh, it's okay." Nico ran a soothing hand through blonde hair, rubbing Karolina's side with the other. "You'll be okay."

She wanted to ask what happened, but she didn't think she'd ever seen Karolina this upset before, so she didn't want to say anything to break the moment. She knew Karolina needed to let all of her emotions out right now before trying to talk about anything, so Nico resolved to just hold her tight, wishing her arms could act as a fortress between Karolina and whatever negative thoughts she was experiencing right now.

"I'm so sorry, Karolina." Nico didn't know what had happened to make Karolina so upset, but she was sorry for it all the same. She knew it most likely had something to do with Leslie, and Nico shed her last reserve about taking the woman down. Not only had she murdered Nico's sister, she'd broken Karolina's heart, and she deserved to pay. For all of it.

After a few minutes, Karolina finally calmed down, slumping further into Nico's arms without even bothering to clear her face of the sticky tears that covered it.

"Karolina, what happened?" Nico asked quietly, her voice barely above a whisper.

"My mom killed so many people." Karolina's voice quivered. " _Murdered_ them."

"I know." Nico wondered if the reality of the situation was just now hitting Karolina.

"They didn't want to die, Nico," Karolina continued. "My mom was controlling them with the Staff. She made them volunteer."

"What makes you say that?" Sure, Nico had never believed the kids had volunteered to die in the first place, but Karolina had always been positive of it.

"I talked to someone else today, Vaughn, and he said there were never any sacrifices. He's been to plenty of Ceremonies in the past, but he doesn't remember the sacrifices." Karolina was crying again, tears soaking through the front of Nico's shirt. "My mom must've been wiping everyone else's memory of the whole thing. Because there are sacrifices. The Ceremony is all about the sacrifice."

"I know there are sacrifices. We have a whole file full of proof of that," Nico assured her quietly. "That's some seriously messed up shit. So no one's ever known about the sacrifices?"

Nico felt Karolina shake her head against her chest.

"Then why even have them there in the first place?" she wondered aloud. "Why not just do the sacrifices in private and not make such a big deal out of them?"

"I don't know. To prevent someone from finding out about them by accident and going to the police?" Karolina suggested, finally pulling away and wiping at her eyes. "Doesn't that make me a horrible person, though? I knew about these sacrifices, and I was okay with them. No one else here would've ever gone along with something like that, so what does that say about me?"

This was it. What Karolina had just said was what she'd been crying about. It wasn't the shock of learning even more terrible things about her mother. It was finding out she might be horrible too.

"Hey. You were a little girl." Nico reached out to squeeze Karolina's arm. "You thought everyone else was okay with it, and you didn't know any better, not like the rest of them would've if your mom wasn't controlling them. Maybe this is how she wants you to feel so you won't turn your back on her, but you're better than that. Like I've told you already, you're a  _good_ person, Karo."

Silence fell over the two of them as Karolina presumably mulled Nico's words over in her head. Anger surged up in Nico like fire up a kerosene-soaked rope. Nico wanted to kill Leslie for the way she'd used and manipulated Karolina, along with every other member of her Church, for the way she'd murdered Nico's sister. The more horrible things Nico found out about Leslie, the more Nico's anxiety for the day of the sacrifice turned into anticipation.

After several seconds, Karolina scooted closer to Nico, letting their arms brush, and Nico knew that was her silent way of telling her she believed her, that she would side with Nico over her mother any day. Nico resisted the urge to wrap her arm around Karolina again or hold her hand. She wanted Karolina to be the one to make the moves tonight.

"I don't think my mom ever really cared about me," Karolina mumbled.

She turned her head in Nico's direction, as if hoping that Nico would reassure her about her mother's love in the same way she'd just assured of her own goodness. At the sight of the earnestness in those blue eyes that were trained almost exactly on hers, Nico almost wanted to. But she couldn't lie to Karolina. Especially not tonight.

"I can't promise you that your mom loves you, Karolina," Nico said honestly. "I've never even met her. Maybe the only thing she's ever loved is power, or maybe the only thing she's ever loved is you. I don't know the answer. All I know is if she doesn't love you, she's missing out on getting the chance to love the kindest, most beautiful soul in the world. I'm glad I'm not missing out on it. Because I love you, Karolina."

She hadn't meant to say it tonight. She'd been trying to wait for the right time, but there was no denying it anymore. Somewhere in between sneaking into the Church of Gibborim that first night and now, Nico had fallen for Karolina. She couldn't hold it in any longer, and she realized now was as perfect a time as any to say it.

A small smile appeared on Karolina's face, and Nico knew it was mirrored on her own, although Nico's own grin grew wider when she saw familiar rainbow lights begin to dance across Karolina's skin again.

"I love you too, Nico," she responded. "Is that crazy?"

"I don't think it's crazy at all."

"I'm gonna kiss you now," Karolina said, and Nico gave a hum of approval.

Nico almost leaned in to press her lips to Karolina's, but she stopped herself. Karolina had worded her sentence exactly as she'd intended to. She wanted to be the one to kiss Nico, so Nico remained where she was. Karolina reached for Nico's cheeks, cupping them in her hands before easily bringing her lips to Nico's. Nico leaned into the kiss, bringing her hand to rest on Karolina's knee.

The kiss wasn't heated or long, but Nico felt Karolina's love for her all the same, and Nico poured her own love into the kiss. Karolina's mom might not have cared about her, but Nico wanted Karolina to know she did. She thought she always would.

When Karolina pulled back, Nico squeezed her girlfriend's vibrantly colored knee, and Karolina smiled at the contact. "I wish we could teleport ourselves to some remote island where we would never have to deal with any of this ever again."

Nico's smile dimmed along with Karolina's lights as the blonde's mind went back to its previous line of thought. "And leave your mom to keep killing people? No, if we stop her, we won't even have to leave for us to escape her."

"There's not much we can do." Karolina sighed. "She has a whole group of brainwashed Gibborim members on her side."

"Not without the Staff she doesn't," Nico pointed out with a smile.

Realization spread across Karolina's face, but it was immediately replaced with a frown instead of the smile Nico had been hoping for. "I can't go to the Ceremony on Friday. I can't just sit there and be quiet while she takes away the life of another innocent person."

"Maybe she won't even do the sacrifice," Nico reasoned. "If no one knows about it and she doesn't have the Staff, what would even be the point?"

"There wouldn't be one," Karolina agreed, "so how are you going to get the hard evidence you need to take her down?"

This was a thought that hadn't crossed Nico's mind until that very second. If Nico and her friends brought the cops to a Gibborim Ceremony where no one even had any memory of there ever having been a sacrifice, then they would end up looking like a bunch of lying kids. Nico couldn't risk becoming a laughingstock. There had to be something she could do.

"Then I'll make your mom admit it herself," she answered, her brain formulating a new plan right before she spoke it, "and I'll record it, so I can hand it over to the police. I'll corner her after the Ceremony, pretend I'm a new recruit with a question or something, and Gert and Chase can bring in the police ten or fifteen minutes later."

"That sounds…reasonable," Karolina admitted, "but I don't think I can sit through another Ceremony. I don't want to experience what the Ceremony has been like for everyone else all these years. It'll just remind me of how it should've been for me."

"If you don't go to the Ceremony, your mom will know something's up," Nico argued. "You can't risk getting hurt because of this, and I can't risk her having something to use against me."

"My mom won't tie me to you. I'll make sure of it," Karolina promised. "But I'd rather she hurt me than someone else."

Nico heard the words coming out of Karolina's mouth, but they didn't make sense. Karolina getting hurt was Nico's worst nightmare, and there was no way she'd let it become a reality. Nico didn't want Karolina anywhere near the sacrifice, but Gert was right when she said they couldn't risk Leslie finding out something was up beforehand. The only way for them to keep the element of surprise was for Karolina to go to the Ceremony.

But if she refused? Nico couldn't force her to do anything, would never even think about it. If Karolina wouldn't go to the Ceremony no matter what, then Nico wanted her out of here, away from this Church and the woman who could hurt her, who already had hurt her.

As the date of the sacrifice got closer and closer, Nico found it harder and harder to let Karolina out of her sight. So maybe she shouldn't have to. If Leslie was going to find out Karolina knew what she'd been up to, she might as well come to that realization while Karolina was far away and safe.

"Or maybe you could come back to my house with me until the Ceremony is over. You can join me and my friends in taking your mom down."

Karolina's dim lights went out completely. "You know that's not an option for me."

Nico did know, but she also knew it was dangerous for Karolina to stay here now that she knew the truth about her mother. Maybe it was selfish of her, but Nico couldn't risk losing Karolina like she lost Amy. And the only way to keep Karolina safe was to keep her away from here.

"I just want you to be safe."

"Safe?" Panic was clear in Karolina's features. "I haven't been outside of this Church in  _years_ , Nico. How can leaving possibly be safe for me?"

"Because your mother is unpredictable, and it'll be so much safer for you to leave this place than to be left to the mercy of a murderer. And I'll be there the whole time to take care of you." Nico tried her best to keep the desperation out of her voice. She didn't want to sound like she was also unhinged, but she was afraid for Karolina. She didn't want to find out what a world without Karolina would be like.

"I can take care of myself." Karolina's voice was edged with anger. "I don't need you to do anything for me."

Nico was slightly taken aback, but she understood the other girl's frustration. It became clear to her that people in Karolina's life had done things for her far longer than she needed them to. People might even still try to baby her now, but Nico was only trying to help.

"I've never tried to do anything for you, Karolina, because I know that," Nico said gently. "I know you can take care of yourself, but I want you to know I'll always be here to help you if you need it. You're not used to being in unfamiliar places, and I can imagine it'll be daunting for you to leave this one. But you deserve to know more than just the Church of Gibborim. I'd love to help you learn other places if you'd let me."

"I don't want to feel like I'm helpless again." Tears shined in Karolina's eyes, and Nico tried her best not to think about Karolina as a little girl, struggling with her newfound disability.

"You've never been helpless, Karo," Nico said. "You're one of the strongest people I know. You can navigate this Church as well as any sighted person, better even. Certainly better than I can. You can do anything I can do. Just because you might need a little more time getting used to new areas doesn't change that. I love you, Karolina, remember? Just. Like. This."

Karolina gave her a lopsided smile, but it quickly fell away as another tear rolled down her cheek. "I'm scared, Nico."

Nico was quick to wipe it away with her thumb. It broke her heart to present the girl in front of her with such a difficult choice, but she would much rather Karolina face her fear of the unknown than have her fears and every other part of her silenced forever.

"I know you are," Nico responded. "And I'm not going to make you do anything. If you feel more comfortable here, than stay. You can handle your mom. I just…if you want to get out of here, know that you can. Your mom might have kept you here for so long that you don't see leaving as an option anymore, but it is. And if you choose it, I'll be there with you the whole time."

Karolina's internal conflict was clear on her face, and Nico wished she could see into her thoughts. She wanted Karolina to come with her so she could make sure she was safe, but it was her choice in the end, and Nico would respect whatever she decided. She loved Karolina, and she trusted her to do whatever she needed to if her mom tried to hurt her. Nico would just have to hope it would be enough.

"Okay," Karolina finally said. "Let's go."


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've actually been having a lot more time and drive to write these past few weeks, so here is another chapter of the story! Big decisions are made this chapter, so I hope you enjoy. I can't wait to hear what you think!

It took about ten steps outside of the Church of Gibborim for Nico to regret her decision. What had she been thinking? Was she seriously just going to bring Karolina back to her house, to  _school_ , and not expect any sort of consequences? What happened when Leslie found out her daughter was gone? She'd made her people search the entire school when the Staff of One had gone missing. Should Nico really expect any differently when it was her own daughter that had been taken this time?

She didn't know what had possessed her to even suggest this crazy idea in the first place, but she couldn't deny it was what she'd wanted ever since Chase reminded her of the Ceremony's imminent approach. She didn't want Karolina anywhere near Leslie now that she'd found out the truth about the sacrifices. If Karolina slipped up and wound up getting hurt because of what she knew, Nico would never be able to forgive herself for being the reason Karolina even knew anything in the first place. All she'd been able to picture was Karolina lying in the same coffin that Amy had, her skin never to burst into rainbow light again.

As they walked down the sidewalk now, though, Nico's arm looped through Karolina's to guide her, Nico wondered if taking her away from the Church would prove to be worse. There was no lying their way out of this one. Leaving the Church would prove to Leslie that Karolina had turned against her, and Nico had half a mind to turn back now. She had no idea what she was going to do, no plan, and every time Karolina's body trembled with nervousness, Nico only felt worse than she already had. It was clear Karolina was on edge and rightfully so. She wasn't used to having no idea where she was.

"We can turn back if you want to," Nico finally said. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all."

"It's better than the alternative." Karolina's voice held a confidence that Nico was sure she didn't feel. "I don't want to be anywhere near that Church right now."

"I understand," Nico said, and she did. Karolina didn't want to be anywhere near the events taking place inside the building, but she still felt uncomfortable being away from the place that had been her home for so long.

Karolina wasn't turning back, though, so Nico would have to live with the consequences of her decision. She would have to convince her parents to let Karolina stay with her and make sure to keep an eye out for Leslie so she'd be able to keep Karolina away from her. Which was easier said than done, considering Nico had no idea what the woman even looked like. She made a mental note to do a Google search on her when she got home.

Then there would be the matter of explaining everything that had happened tonight to her friends. They were surely going to think she was crazy, and Gert would most definitely be mad, but she knew they would come around eventually. Her friends were the only ones she could trust right now and as such, she both dreaded and looked forward to telling them about this in the morning. She had no idea what she was doing right now, but they were the only ones who would be able to help her figure it out.

A car revved its engine as a stoplight turned from red to green, and Nico nearly jumped out of her skin as an explosion of sound reverberated through the night air around her. She felt Karolina physically jolt beside her, and she shook her head. What a way to be dragged out of her thoughts.

"What was that?" Karolina's eyes were wide with fear.

"It was just a car." Nico didn't even try to keep the annoyance out of her voice. "Some idiot trying to compensate for his tiny dick size, that's all."

That drew a laugh from Karolina, and Nico's annoyance dissipated like mist in the sunlight as she smiled. She felt like she hadn't been smiling much at all since she'd found out the date of the sacrifice, and it was nice to hear Karolina laugh again. The blonde hadn't been in a laughing mood in what felt like forever.

They continued their walk in silence, but Nico could tell that the air between them was different now. Karolina had relaxed slightly, and Nico couldn't feel the tension she'd felt only seconds ago. It seemed that, while the distraction had been a rude one, she'd needed it, and she hadn't been the only one.

Maybe everything would work out all right. Maybe Leslie wouldn't come looking for Karolina at all, and Nico and her friends would easily overpower her and bring her down. And Karolina would be free.

At that moment, Karolina's foot caught on a crack in the sidewalk, tripping her, and Nico was quick to wrap her arms around the other girl's waist. "Careful."

"Thanks, Nico," Karolina said with a soft smile.

Nico thought Karolina would have most likely been glowing right now if she hadn't been wearing her bracelet, and Nico wished she could reach over and take it off. She couldn't, though for obvious reasons. Best not to have Karolina's skin glowing out on the street at night like a beacon to any thug or bum who could cause trouble for them. Nico almost wished she'd brought the Staff with her in case anything happened, but she quickly pushed the thought away. She wouldn't allow herself to rely on the Staff for anything other than Leslie's demise. No good could come of such an object.

The more they walked, the more confident Karolina's steps and posture grew. Nico marveled at how strong she was. She'd thought Karolina would take more than a few minutes to get used to being in unfamiliar places, but she didn't seem to care so much now. She didn't even look afraid anymore, and Nico's stomach fluttered when she realized it was because Karolina trusted her. She trusted that Nico wouldn't let anything happen to her, and Nico was determined to make sure that trust was never misplaced.

When they arrived at Nico's house, Nico decided it would be best to climb in through her window and pretend she'd never left. It was after 11 o'clock at night, and Nico knew her parents would be much more reasonable in the morning.

"Will you be okay to climb through my window?" Nico asked.

"What do you mean?" Karolina cocked her head in confusion. "We're not going to let your parents know I'm here?"

"No. That gives them the chance to say no, which isn't really an option for us right now," Nico explained. "We'll talk to them in the morning."

Nico punched out her window screen and climbed back into her room. So much had changed since she'd left no more than two hours ago, but her room looked exactly the same. It was crazy how so much could happen, yet some things remained untouched.

"You in?" Karolina asked, drawing Nico's attention back to the moment.

"Yeah." She reached outside to take Karolina's hands, lying them flat on the windowsill so she could get her bearings. "That's the windowsill you have to climb over to get inside. Be careful, okay?"

"I'll be fine," Karolina reassured her with a small smile, and Nico chided herself for letting her worry creep into her voice.

Of course Karolina would be fine. They both would be. Tonight and tomorrow and the day after that. She had to believe that for her own sanity.

Karolina felt along the entire length of the windowsill, followed its edges up the sides and over the top of it, using her hands to get a mental picture of it before easily climbing over the ledge and into the room.

Once Karolina was inside, Nico reached for the screen and put it back in the window before pulling the window shut behind her and locking it. She turned to find Karolina looking uncertain, as if she didn't want to take the chance to explore Nico's room without her permission.

"You never have to feel weird about being in my room," Nico told her girlfriend. "I've been in your room loads of times before, so it's about time I returned the favor."

"What if I accidentally break something?" Karolina nervously played with her fingers.

"I don't care." Nico grabbed Karolina's hands to still them. "For now, let's just sit on the bed like we usually do at your place."

Karolina nodded her agreement, and Nico guided Karolina to the bed in the middle of her room, placing her hands on the comforter as she settled on top of it. Karolina sat down as well, but she still looked nervous, like she wasn't comfortable here, and Nico wondered what had changed between her calm from their walk outside and now.

Then Karolina spoke, and Nico realized she wasn't nervous about anything that was happening now. She was worried about what would happen tomorrow. "Are you going to school tomorrow?"

"I think so," Nico said. "I'm going to lie, obviously, about who you are when I tell my parents, but I don't want them to think anything is seriously wrong. Besides, I need to talk to my friends and let them know there's been a change of plans. But you can come with me. I'll tell the people at the office you're going to be shadowing me for the next two days."

"And what if my mom comes looking for me?" Karolina asked.

"Then we'll get out of there," Nico told her. "I'll be on the lookout, and so will Chase and Molly and Gert. I won't let her find you, Karo. I promise."

"Maybe I should be on the lookout too," Karolina whispered, her voice small.

"Four pairs of eyes is enough." Nico was quick to reassure her. "You may not be able to help us spot Leslie, but you can certainly help us get away from her. And take her down. You know so many things about her and the layout of the Church that you'll be more than helpful to us."

"I didn't mean it like that," Karolina said. "I was being serious. You have the Staff of One. Maybe you should give me sight until my mom's taken care of. I don't want to feel like she could be right behind me at any time."

Nico was silent for several moments as she realized what Karolina was asking her to do. It would be impossible for anyone else, but it was incredibly possible for Nico. Nico's heart was a swirl of emotions, but the first one to rise to the surface was anger. Leslie could've given Karolina her sight back after she'd lost it, but she hadn't wanted to explain a magic recovery to her daughter, to the doctors who'd been caring for her, and risk her stupid Staff being discovered and taken away. She'd put the Staff above Karolina in the past, and Nico was sure she'd do it again. That was more than enough confirmation for Nico that she'd done the right thing by getting Karolina away from her mother.

"Think about it." Karolina took Nico's silence as disapproval. "What if we get separated or my mom finds some way to get me alone? If I can see my escape routes, I'll be a lot more likely to get away and a lot less likely to slam right into a wall."

Nico wanted to protest that she wouldn't let Karolina out of her sight, but she didn't want to suffocate her girlfriend, even if it was only for two days. The bottom line was this: Karolina could fend for herself in any normal situation, but if Leslie came after her at a school she'd never set foot in before in her life, it would be hard for her to escape quickly if Nico wasn't there to guide her. And Nico wanted to be there, but what if something happened? Not to mention, whether Karolina could see or not didn't affect Nico at all. This was Karolina's decision, and Nico wanted to respect her girlfriend's wishes.

"You really think your mom will come after you?" Nico asked.

"I don't know," Karolina answered truthfully, "but I do know that I'm afraid of her, and this will help me to not be so afraid."

"This isn't a decision that should be taken lightly, Karolina. Are you sure?"

Karolina only shrugged. "I have always been kind of curious to see what my glow looks like."

Nico smiled at Karolina's attempt at humor but only for a moment. The air in the room was still heavy, and Nico wished for what felt like the thousandth time this week that all of this would just be over. She was hesitant to change anything about Karolina, especially now, but she could see in Karolina's unfocused blue eyes that she was serious. There didn't seem to be anything Nico could say or do to change her mind.

"Okay, I'll just…get the Staff." Nico climbed off her bed and walked over to her closet, opening the door and pulling out the shoebox that had been stored in the back for far too long now.

As always, the Staff elongated and sparked to life the minute Nico grabbed it, and she watched as the magic flowed through the circular top. Could she really use this thing on Karolina? Sure, she'd done multiple spells with the Staff before, but she'd never used one to actually change something about a person. She wanted to be able to cast this spell, but what if something went wrong? She'd never forgive herself if she hurt Karolina.

"Nico?" Karolina called from the bed, clearly picking up on her girlfriend's hesitance.

"I don't know if I can do this," Nico admitted. "I'm afraid. What if something happens to you?"

"Nothing is going to happen." It was crazy how calm Karolina sounded when she'd been the one who'd been scared only moments ago. She held out her hand in Nico's direction. "Here. Hold my hand while you do it."

"But I've never done a spell like this before," Nico protested.

"My mom messes with people's minds every time she does the Ceremony." Karolina clearly knew exactly what was bothering Nico. "She literally wipes everyone's memory, and every single person is perfectly fine afterwards."

Karolina made a point of holding her hand out to Nico again, and Nico took it, settling on the bed beside Karolina as she squeezed the blonde's hand with one hand while holding the Staff of One in the other. "Okay."

Again, the perfect words for the spell popped into Nico's mind, but for the first time, they didn't flow just as easily out of her mouth. Despite Karolina's reassurances, she was still afraid to perform a spell on Karolina like this. But that didn't change the fact that Karolina was right. She was going to be fine. Nothing was going to happen.

At least not right now.

So Nico spoke the words.

_"Now you see me."_

Blue eyes became clear and focused for the first time since Nico had seen them, and Karolina pulled back a little, blinking as she adjusted to the many things that were filling her vision for the first time in a decade. And then, for the first time since Nico had known Karolina, her blue gaze met Nico's directly.

* * *

The first thing Karolina saw once the Staff of One had worked its magic was Nico, and she was immediately caught off guard by how breathtakingly beautiful she was. Long black hair framed a fair skinned face with warm brown eyes and lips curved up in the hint of a smile. The mental image Karolina had of Nico had done nothing to prepare her for reality.

"You're gorgeous," she said before she could stop herself, and she immediately looked down at the bedspread beneath her, feeling heat rise to her cheeks that had nothing to do with glowing skin.

"Yeah?" Nico said with a laugh. "So are you."

And that was when it occurred to Karolina to take a look at herself. She scanned the room, pausing when her eyes fell on the image of the two of them in the mirror, and Karolina realized that Nico was right. She hadn't seen herself since she was five years old, and she had certainly grown into her features. Which immediately made her think of the powers she had grown into as well.

An eager smile crossed her face as her gaze fell to the bracelet that was still clasped firmly around her wrist. "Can I light up?"

"I don't know what's stopping you," Nico said with a wide smile.

Nothing. Nothing was stopping her anymore, and she was determined to never let anything stop her again. Her mom had held her back from so many things in life, and she wanted nothing more than to be free of that once and for all. She finally was free of that.

After unfastening the clasp on her bracelet, she let it fall to the bed beneath her and watched her arms as her skin immediately lit up in a mix of flowing pinks, purples, blues, oranges, and yellows.

Nico and her friends had been right. Karolina's lights were fascinating. Even more so when Nico flipped off the lamp on her bedside table, allowing Karolina's glowing skin to be the only light in the room.

"Wow." Karolina felt like she was the only person in the world for a moment as her eyes traced the paths of light across her skin. "My lights are…amazing."

Nico laughed for the second time that night before leaning in to kiss Karolina, and Karolina's eyes fell closed as she returned it. It was the first time Nico had ever kissed her without warning, but she'd still leaned in slowly enough to give Karolina ample time to pull away if she didn't want to accept it. Karolina thought she would always want to accept Nico's kisses, but still, she appreciated the gesture.

Even through her eyelids, Karolina realized she could still see the intensity of her lights as the warmth within her grew stronger. She was used to a world of darkness, but she didn't think a world of light would be so bad for a little while.

When Nico pulled away again, she didn't go far, resting her forehead gently against Karolina's. Karolina tried her best to dim her lights a little, not wanting to be so bright in front of Nico's eyes, but Nico grabbed her hand and shook her head to let her know it was all right. A small laugh escaped Karolina's lips as she allowed her lights to grow to their full capacity again, and Nico gave her another small peck before speaking softly.

"You're amazing."


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karolina goes to school with Nico, and Nico's friends find out that there has been a huge change of plans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...you're probably all as disappointed as I am by the news that season three is the last season of Runaways, but I want you to know that I will definitely be finishing this story. I can promise you that. I also have another story for Deanoru in the works that I will probably start posting next month, and I can't wait to share it with all of you! So while I am upset beyond words that the first show I've been able to get really into and devote my fandom life to since Clexa on The 100 is coming to an end, I am so happy we have fan fiction so that we can keep our ship alive. Thank you to everyone who has continued to read and support this fic. I hope you'll enjoy it all the way to the end.

The blare of Nico's alarm pulled her from her slumber, and she groaned as she rolled over to turn the horrendous racket off. She successfully tapped the snooze option on her phone before rolling back over to enjoy another five minutes of much-needed sleep. What she did not expect when she rolled back over was to plunge face first into a sea of curly blonde hair.  _Right. Karolina's here. In my bed._ So much for those five more minutes of sleep.

It had taken Nico long enough to fall asleep last night in the first place with all the excitement of having her arm around Karolina's waist. She was so exhausted from the events of the night, though, that sleep had eventually come to claim her. Now, her heart was beating so fast that she knew it would be futile to try for the few extra minutes of sleep she usually got.

Karolina clearly didn't share in the excitement. The blonde was still fast asleep, and it was unclear whether or not she'd even heard the alarm in the first place.

"Wake up, Karo. Time for school." Nico shook Karolina's shoulder, causing her to groan and roll onto her back.

She rubbed her eyes sleepily before slowly opening them, and blue met brown once more. Nico was still getting used to having Karolina's eyes looking directly back into hers. She loved the new experience, but she also found herself already missing Karolina's unfocused blue gaze. It was strange how she could have two opposing viewpoints at the same time.

A smile spread across Karolina's face as she remembered the events of last night and realized who she was looking at. "Nico."

"Good morning, love." Nico returned her smile.

"I can't believe I'm finally going to get to go to school," Karolina said.

"No one's ever going to stop you again." Nico gave Karolina a quick peck on the lips before rolling out of bed.

She hoped she wasn't making a promise she couldn't keep. She truly intended to keep Karolina away from Leslie for the rest of her life. She wanted to give Karolina the chance to choose after she'd been deprived of it for so long.

After getting dressed, Nico changing in the bathroom while Karolina changed in her room, the two girls shared Nico's vanity chair and put their hair up in various updos. Nico spun her hair into two neat knots atop her head, letting the rest of it fall loose.

Karolina, on the other hand, opted for her usual braid. Nico noticed she struggled with it the first time around, focusing more on her reflection than what she was doing with her hands. She shook her head at her sloppy work before undoing it and starting again. Closing her eyes this time, she expertly weaved her hair into a perfect braid before opening her eyes to inspect herself in the mirror.

She gave a satisfied nod. "Does my hair always look like this? It looks a lot better than I've imagined."

"Yeah, it always looks like that," Nico confirmed. "You braid much better than most of the girls at my school."

"You're just saying that," Karolina said with a smile.

"I'm really not. A lot of girls' hair falls out of their braids and ends up looking a mess by the end of the school day, but your hair somehow always looks perfect."

Nico was telling the truth, having noticed this on countless occasions, many of which resulted in a shared kiss, and Karolina squeezed Nico's hand before reaching for the mascara.

As it turned out, Nico probably should have let Karolina sleep longer. She'd forgotten not everyone's makeup routine took as much time as hers did. For a few minutes, she worried Karolina was growing bored and might question why Nico had woken her up so early, but when Nico stole a quick glance at her in the mirror, she saw that Karolina didn't look bored in the slightest. Instead, she looked intrigued.

Karolina watched with great interest as Nico coated her lips with black lipstick, the last part of her makeup routine, and Nico wondered what she was seeing. Did Nico look like a totally different person to her with her makeup on? Was this not a look Karolina would have ever pictured Nico to have?

"You know, you don't need all that makeup, Nico," Karolina finally said. "I think you look just as pretty without it."

"I didn't used to wear so much makeup," Nico admitted, "but then Amy died, and I couldn't go on looking the same, you know? I'm not the same without her."

Today marked a year since Amy had died, and as far as anniversaries of awful events went, this was not shaping up to be nearly as bad as she'd expected. Nico didn't think she could ever go back to the person she was without Amy, but she had certainly become happier than she ever pictured herself being, and that was because of the girl sitting beside her. Amy would want Nico to go on with her life, and Nico knew her sister would be proud of the strides she'd been making lately.

"I get that." Karolina nodded. "For the record, I think the makeup is kind of hot."

Nico tried her best to cool her burning cheeks, but she knew that wasn't possible, not when Karolina was looking at her with her lip pulled between her teeth. She wished she didn't have to go to school so she could kiss Karolina senseless and never come up for air. But the last thing she wanted was to be left alone in a house where Leslie might come poking around. Besides, she needed to talk to her parents because she knew they weren't going to like this.

As much as Nico wanted to avoid telling her parents about Karolina's presence in their home, she knew the only way Karolina was getting to school was with her and her dad. So she braced herself for whatever was to come and led Karolina out into the living room to face her parents.  _Here goes nothing._

"Mom, Dad." Nico drew her parents' attention to her when she entered the room. "I need to talk to you about something."

Both Robert and Tina turned Nico's way almost instantly when they picked up on the seriousness in her tone. The shock was clear on their faces when their eyes traveled from Nico to the girl standing behind her.

"Honey, who's this?" Robert asked.

"That's…actually what I want to talk to you about," Nico said, suddenly feeling daunted by the two pairs of authoritative eyes that were now trained on her. "A friend from school called me late last night and asked if she could stay with me for a couple of days, and I said yes. She had this huge fight with her mom, and I want her to be able to wait until everything blows over."

While Nico knew it wasn't exactly the truth, it wasn't exactly a lie either. Karolina did want to stay here until things blew over with her mom. Nico just left out the part about those things being a murder Ceremony and a sacrifice.

"You didn't think to ask us first?" Tina did not look impressed with Nico's story.

"I wanted to," Nico insisted, "but it was so late at night. You guys had already gone to bed, and I honestly didn't think you'd mind."

"We know all your friends from school." Robert was trying to keep his lips set in a frown, but Nico could see the hint of a smile creeping up the sides of them. "Is this that girl you've been talking about?"

Nico wanted to sink through the floor the minute she had realized what her dad was going to say. Her face turned beet red as she felt Karolina's gaze on her. So she had told her parents about Karolina. It wasn't a big deal. So why couldn't Nico keep the blush off her cheeks?

"Maybe," Nico mumbled.

Tina rose from her chair with a frown. "Can I talk to you in the kitchen for a moment, please?"

"Yes, ma'am." Nico sullenly followed her as she headed in the direction of the aforementioned room.

She knew she was about to get in trouble. She could tell by the stoic look on her mother's face, not a single ounce of emotion seeping through the cracks. She was prepared to take whatever punishment her mom might give, though, as long as it didn't end in Karolina's untimely departure. She was prepared to offer anything in return for Karolina being allowed to stay with her family for one more night.

"I don't appreciate you lying to us," her mother said once they were out of hearing range from the other two in the living room. "Lying is something we all agreed wasn't healthy in this household."

So that was what this was about. It wasn't that Nico had invited a girl she liked to spend the night with her. Her mom was upset because Nico had lied. Add sneaking Karolina into her room without telling her mom to the list of stupid decisions Nico had made last night.

"I know, Mom, and I'm sorry I lied. I was just scared, that's all. Horrible stuff really did go down with her mom last night, and I didn't want her to have to stay there after that. I was worried about her."

"That doesn't excuse you lying to us, Nico."

"Of course. I know that. But I'll do anything you want me to if she can stay one more night."

Every muscle in Nico's body was tense with anticipation as she waited for her mom's answer. She was afraid Tina was going to send Karolina home immediately, and what would Nico do then? What would Leslie do now that Karolina had run away? Maybe she could say she was abducted. With her powers, though, Nico knew that story was less than plausible.

If only she had told her parents about Karolina last night. Contrary to her previous belief, they clearly would've been much more likely to let Karolina stay over if she had asked them about it first. Nico found it ridiculous that they were seriously upset over one little withholding of the truth in the face of everything that was going on, but her parents didn't even know anything was going on at all. How would her parents react when they found out what she had been up to these past few months?

Maybe she should tell her mom everything right then and there. She couldn't, though. Too much was at stake, and she didn't need to get anyone else involved in this dangerous game than she already had. Encouraging Nico to be honest might have been her parents' way of keeping her safe, but keeping them in the dark about the true reason Amy died was Nico's own way of protecting them.

"She can stay." Tina finally relented with a sigh. "I want to punish you for lying to us, but I know you've been having a hard time lately. And I know that's probably mainly due to what happened a year ago today. But I also know that this girl has managed to make you happier than I've seen you in a year, so I want to give her a chance."

"Really?" Nico didn't dare let herself believe.

"Really, Nico," Tina confirmed. "I love you. I just want you to be happy."

"Thanks, Mom." Nico smiled widely as she enveloped her mother in a hug. "I love you too."

The two of them walked back to the living room to see Robert making small talk with Karolina from his chair while Karolina stood beside the couch, still looking uncomfortable.

"You know, you can sit down." Nico plopped down on the couch Karolina was standing next to while Tina settled back into her seat by the fireplace.

"Yes, sorry." Karolina felt for the armrest of the couch behind her before sinking into it, instinctually checking its position with touch instead of sight. It was so casual that Nico didn't think her parents had noticed it, but she had. A telltale sign of the way Karolina had been living her life from age five until yesterday night.

"So what's the verdict?" Robert asked goodhumoredly, all traces of his previous upset façade having fallen away while Nico was in the kitchen with her mother. "Is Nico in trouble, or are we letting this one slide?"

"We're letting it slide," Tina informed him. "I want to be mad and give Nico some sort of consequences for her actions, but I can't bring myself to punish her. Not today."

"I agree." All of Robert's previous playfulness vanished at Tina's words and the shining of tears forming in her eyes. "I think she's been through enough."

"I've told Nico her friend can stay here for one more night," Tina said, "if that's okay with you."

"That's perfectly fine," Robert answered before turning to Karolina. "So what's your name, kiddo?"

"Karolina," the blonde replied, sounding shyer than Nico had heard her in a while.

Originally, Nico had been planning to lie about Karolina's name as well, in case her parents knew of the Deans, but she knew she'd been lying to them enough lately. That still didn't stop the relief Nico felt when no signs of recognition crossed their faces upon hearing the name.

She wanted nothing more than to be able to tell them the truth about everything, but she knew that wasn't an option for her right now. She couldn't risk anyone stopping her from what she planned on doing tomorrow, and she was certain her parents would never let her go through with it if they knew the truth. She only hoped they'd understand once all of this was over.

* * *

Sight was different. It was strange being able to see the layout of the house as she moved around it that morning, even stranger to look into people's eyes as they spoke to her. She watched as the trees, buildings, and cars whizzed by outside the window of Nico's dad's car as she rode with them to school that morning. It was making her kind of nauseous honestly, but she found she couldn't look away.

School was not at all what Karolina had thought it would be. There were so many more kids than she'd expected, and it was so incredibly loud and crowded in the hallways. Feeling slightly overwhelmed, Karolina clung to the straps of the old backpack that Nico had given her to use.

They spoke to a woman at the office about Karolina shadowing Nico for a few days, and Karolina was slightly shocked when she easily agreed. She'd thought her mom would've put out posters with her face and name on them already, informing everyone to call her if they saw her daughter.

Karolina relaxed a bit as she realized that no one was looking for her. Even if her mom did come to the school, there were so many people here that it would probably be difficult for her to single Karolina out before she and Nico could slip away.

She grabbed Nico's hand as they walked back out into the hallway, following her as she walked toward what Karolina presumed was her locker. A boy looked up and smiled at her approach, but his smile immediately fell away when his gaze slid past Nico and onto Karolina.

"You brought her to  _school?_ " he hissed once Nico was within hearing distance. So this was Chase. "What the hell, Nico?"

"So I did something crazy last night," Nico admitted.

"I'm not sure crazy is a strong enough word." Chase looked like he was about to have a full-on meltdown. "Why would you do something like this? Do you  _want_ Leslie to kill you?"

"Obviously not." Nico seemed completely unfazed by his outburst. "But I also don't want her to kill Karolina either. She doesn't want to go to the Ceremony, and I can't risk anything happening to her."

"So your genius plan was to steal her away from the Church. Absolutely brilliant."

Nico rolled her eyes again and opened her mouth to say more, but she was cut off by the arrival of a purple-haired girl and a girl with wild dark curls.

"Hey, Chase, I thought you were going to—" The girl with the purple hair, whom Karolina easily identified by the sound of her voice as Gert, stopped speaking abruptly, eyes going wide as she noticed Karolina. "No. Way."

"Karolina, what are you doing here?" the other girl, Molly, asked, sounding curious and slightly excited.

"I, um, Nico brought me here." Karolina's gaze dropped to the floor as she explained herself. "I told her I wasn't going to the Ceremony, and she wanted to get me out of the Church, so I left. It's only for a couple of days."

The truth was, though, that Karolina didn't know how long it would be. If they confronted her mother and got her sent to prison, where would Karolina go then? She didn't have any other living family members that she knew about. She had no idea what she would do after tonight, but that didn't change her mind about her mother. She wanted that woman out of her life once and for all.

"Are you out of your mind?!" Gert yelled at Nico. "Not only have you given up our element of surprise, but you've put both yours and Karolina's lives in danger."

" _If_ Leslie even comes looking for her. How would she even know Karolina was here in the first place? She doesn't know we've been seeing each other. She'll probably think Karolina ran away or was kidnapped or something."

Karolina tried to keep her focus on the conversation in front of her, but she thought the argument was rather pointless. Regardless of all the reasons Gert thought Nico shouldn't have done what she did, it didn't change the fact that Nico had taken Karolina out of the Church.

As her mind wandered, her eyes were drawn away from the people in front of her. Movement was everywhere. Students were walking by and pushing each other and grabbing books and slamming lockers, and Karolina didn't know what to do with her eyes. There was so much to take in, and she found in that moment that she couldn't stop trying to take it in all at once. She felt that same nauseous feeling from the car coming back.

She finally tore her gaze away from the students in the hallway and brought it back to Nico and her friends when she heard Nico call her name. Karolina found herself looking into worried brown eyes, and she gave her girlfriend a small smile, not wanting her to think anything was seriously wrong.

"Wait a second," Molly said, drawing Karolina's attention back to her. "Karolina, you can see."

She sounded amazed, but it wasn't a question. Molly knew. The others would've been able to easily pick up on it too if they hadn't been so quick to come at Nico the minute they saw Karolina. Which Karolina didn't really understand at all. Nico might have been the one to suggest Karolina leave the Church last night, but ultimately it had been Karolina who had actually made the decision to go through with it.

"Yeah, I can see." Karolina's voice came out shaky, betraying the way that very sight had been affecting her when she'd let her eyes wander seconds ago.

"What do you mean, you can see?" Gert sounded annoyed, her hands on her hips.

"I may have given her sight back to her with the Staff of One," Nico said, sounding guilty.

Gert turned her accusatory gaze back to Nico again. "You cast a spell  _on_ Karolina? What the hell were you thinking? That was a serious spell, and you could've hurt her."

"You think I didn't think of that? I just also happened to think about the fact that Leslie might come looking for her today, and I don't want anything to happen to her."

"I asked her to do it." Karolina spoke up before Gert could respond. "I wanted to be able to see because I'm scared of my mom. Nico didn't want to cast a spell on me."

"Guys." Chase cut in before anyone else could say another word. "Will one of you fill us in on what happened last night? Obviously something had to have happened, otherwise we'd be sticking to the plan right now instead of arguing."

"There's not going to be a sacrifice this year," Karolina said softly.

"What?" Three voices responded at the same time, all filled with shock and confusion.

"No one ever knew about the sacrifices except me." Karolina hung her head, still feeling ashamed of herself for having listened to her mom without question for all those years. "My mom wipes everyone's memory with the Staff, so she can't do a sacrifice without it. And I can't sit through that Ceremony without calling my mom out on her bullshit, so I left."

"So we have no proof." Gert deflated. "If she doesn't do a sacrifice, we can't record it and send it to the police."

"No, but we can get proof," Nico said. "We have the Staff of One, so we'll use it to make Leslie tell the truth about everything. If we record her confession, we can take it to the police or post it online or anything. Whatever we have to do to send her to jail."

"That could work," Chase said at the same time Gert said, "That's the craziest thing I've ever heard."

A moment of silence followed as they eyed each other before Chase opened his mouth to defend himself. "No, but if—"

He was cut off by the sound of three dinging sounds in short succession playing out of a loudspeaker somewhere. Some people ignored the sound entirely, but Karolina heard a few people groan. She turned a questioning look to Nico.

"That's what we call the bell," Nico explained. "It signifies when classes begin and end, so you'll hear it a lot throughout the day."

"If class is supposed to start now, then why are there so many people still out in the hallway?" Karolina asked.

"That was the warning bell," Molly explained. "We have an extra bell in the morning to tell us when we have five minutes to get to class."

"We are continuing this discussion at lunch," Gert said before pulling Chase off in the direction of what Karolina assumed to be her first class.

"Obviously." Nico rolled her eyes after Gert disappeared, causing Molly to laugh.

"Well, I'll see you guys at lunch then," she said.

"See ya." Karolina gave her a smile and a wave.

As she followed Nico through the corridor, a spark of excitement bloomed within her. Gert and Molly told her they'd see her at lunch as if she'd always been here, would always be here. Going to school had always been no more than a fantasy for Karolina, and she was beyond pleased that she was finally here.

* * *

By the time lunch rolled around, Karolina was starving. She had thoroughly enjoyed sitting in on Nico's classes, even if the material wasn't that different from what she went over with her tutor. There was something about actually being present in a classroom that made all the difference to Karolina. Maybe she really had just wanted to get out of the Church of Gibborim. There was so much more for her than that.

Now, she was standing in the lunch line with Nico, mouth watering at the delicious smell of burgers coming from the kitchen up ahead. She wondered if they had fries as well.

"What's for lunch?" she asked. "I smell burgers."

"Today is hamburger/cheeseburger day," Nico confirmed. "They have other things too, though. That's today's menu over there."

Nico pointed to a sign hanging on the wall with words written on it, but all Karolina saw was a jumble of incomprehensible letters.

"Ummm…" Karolina tried to pick out a word she could read, but it had been so long since she'd been able to see that she would be lucky to remember what every letter looked like.

"Right. You can't read. Duh." Nico slapped herself in the face. "Well, you can get a hamburger, a cheeseburger, salad, tater tots, fries, cookies. They've got quite a bit up there."

"I'll just have a cheeseburger and fries," Karolina said. "Maybe a chocolate chip cookie."

"Honestly? That sounds pretty good to me too."

After grabbing their food, Nico steered Karolina over to the condiments table, and she grabbed the red bottle before turning to look at Nico for confirmation. "I'm guessing the ketchup bottle is red and the mustard is the yellow one?"

"You are correct," Nico said with a smile.

Karolina squeezed both onto her burger before following Nico over to the table that Gert had already claimed for everyone. Gert asked how Karolina liked school, and Karolina gushed about it for a few minutes while they waited for everyone else to arrive, and then Nico turned to Gert.

"Care to tell me why you thought my idea was 'the craziest thing you've ever heard' this morning?"

"I've thought about it some more, and I think that you might be right," Gert admitted. "You should be able to control Leslie with the Staff of One the same way she's been controlling her congregation for years. The crazy part is you thinking we're going to let you go alone."

"We can't all go, though, can we?" Nico sounded unsure. "I mean, we don't want to risk Leslie seeing us and throwing us out before we have a chance to confront her."

"She's not going to notice if we sit in the back at the Ceremony," Gert argued. "There will already be so many people there that we should easily be able to blend in.  _And_ that way we'll have your back in case anything goes wrong."

As the pair argued again, Karolina let her eyes wander around the crowded lunchroom, watching as students ate their lunches with one another as if it was the most natural thing in the world. It must have been nice for their normal to be to have lunch surrounded by so many other people their age. Karolina wished it was her normal too, hoped that it would be.

That was when she saw her.

Her mother.

A woman with light red hair and lots of freckles surveyed the lunchroom, almost as if she were scanning for something.

Scanning for her daughter.

Karolina quickly whipped her head around before her mother could see her. She felt Nico's and Molly's eyes on her as their focus also got pulled from whatever conversation they'd been having, but she paid them no mind. She was too worried about the woman standing at the other end of the large room. She definitely didn't want to say anything about her. If everyone turned around to look at her, that would give Karolina up for sure.

Her eyes widened when she snuck another glance over her shoulder to see the woman crossing the lunchroom, headed straight for her table. She ducked her head, hoping her mother wouldn't see her but preparing to run away all the same.

Karolina breathed a sigh of relief when the woman walked past her, heading over to talk to the teachers seated at the front of the room. She was just about to alert her friends when the woman sat right down with them and started eating. It wasn't her mother after all. That woman was just a teacher.

"What's going on, Karo?" Nico asked.

"Nothing." Karolina shook her head. "I thought I saw something, that's all."

Nico didn't look convinced, but she didn't question Karolina any further, to her relief. She was embarrassed about her sudden freak out and didn't need everyone at the table to hear about it.

She realized, though, that she didn't even know exactly what her mother looked like now. All she had to go off of was her murky five-year-old memory, but surely her mother had changed over the years. The thought terrified Karolina more than she cared to admit. What if her mother had a different hair color now? What if she crept up on Karolina completely undetected?

A flash of movement out of the corner of her eye caught Karolina's attention, and she spun around. Was it her mother? She relaxed when she saw that it was only a student walking to the trash can.

Turning her gaze back to the people in front of her, she tried to focus back in on the conversation, but movement behind Chase's head caught her eye. It was only a girl standing up from the table behind him. Nothing to worry about.

Karolina knew that being so uptight right now wasn't going to help her racing heart, but she couldn't stop seeing her mother in every single person who moved. She had to be wary and on her guard, or she wouldn't be able to escape when her mom finally did come looking for her.

She tried to keep her eyes on the table in front of her, doing her best to calm down, but she couldn't help but lift her eyes to scan the cafeteria every few seconds.

There. Someone with strawberry blonde hair, sitting three tables over.

Her mother was immersing herself in the school, questioning the students to find out if they had seen Karolina today. She leapt up from the table so fast, she almost knocked her chair over. She couldn't stay in this room any longer. She needed to get out of there.

That was when the girl turned to talk to her friend, and Karolina saw that it was not, in fact, her mother.

"Karolina, are you okay?" Nico asked.

Worry colored Nico's tone and darkened her brown eyes, and Karolina couldn't help but pick up on the fact that Nico had used her whole name. She only did that when they were discussing something serious. Karolina really wanted to give her an answer, but her throat was closing up, and she needed to get out of that room. There were too many people. Too many people who could be her mother.

She only shook her head in response to Nico's question before spinning around and making her way out the cafeteria doors and into the empty hallway. She immediately felt much better away from the commotion, but she was still too vulnerable, an easy target for her mother to be able to see if she showed up at school.

Not even bothering to look at the pictures, Karolina ran her hands over the Braille script underneath the letters on the door beside the lunchroom. MEN. The bathroom. Which meant that the one next to it had to be the women's bathroom. After running her fingers over the Braille to double check, Karolina pushed the door open.

To her relief, she found no one inside, so she made her way into the biggest stall and locked the door. She hadn't even realized she'd been crying until she caught sight of her face in the mirror. She felt safer in this bathroom, though, less panicked, and she sunk to the ground with a sob.

She'd probably looked ridiculous to Nico and her friends, but Karolina was afraid of the trouble she'd be in if her mother found her. She was probably furious with Karolina for running away, and while Karolina would've felt guilty before about leaving her mother, she now only felt fear. If her mom truly wasn't the person Karolina had thought she was all these years, then Karolina had no idea who she was going to come into contact with the next time she saw Leslie Dean.

No matter what, though, she wasn't going to come into contact with Leslie again until she was ready to. Her mom wasn't going to show up here. How would she even explain herself to the school? If she did show up here, she'd have to get past the people in the office first. Once she asked about Karolina, whoever she talked to would say they hadn't seen any blind students come in today, and Karolina's mother would go home. She couldn't tear the school apart without looking like a total maniac.

Karolina wiped her eyes as her tears finally slowed, and she pushed herself up from the floor, turning her gaze to her distraught reflection once more. Her eyes were red, and she looked miserable. She'd always wanted to go to school, so she'd wanted to enjoy it while she was here, but it looked like her mother had ruined even this bit of freedom for her. Now, she just wanted to go home.

At that moment, she heard the sound of the door opening and footsteps coming in, so she resolved to wait for the other person to go into a stall before making her way back to Nico. The person didn't enter a stall, though. Her footsteps stopped, and Karolina wondered if she was doing her hair in the mirror or something.

"Karolina, can I come in?" a voice asked. It was Nico.

"Yeah." Karolina opened the door, allowing Nico to enter.

"What happened back there?" Nico asked.

"I thought I saw my mom," Karolina admitted, eyes stinging again at the mention of her.

"Did you?!" Nico's eyes widened, and she suddenly sounded panicked.

"No." Karolina was quick to reassure her, placing a comforting hand on her arm. "It was only a teacher."

"I'm so sorry." Nico pulled Karolina in for a hug. "We'll get out of here. I'll forge a note from my mom saying I have a doctor's appointment, and we can go to the park or something until school's out."

"The park?" Karolina asked, burying her face in Nico's neck.

"There won't be a lot of people there during school hours, and it's somewhere Leslie would never think to look," Nico explained. "Not to mention, they have a great nature trail. Come on."

As Nico pulled away, Karolina noticed that she was carrying both her backpack and Karolina's on her back. So they were leaving right now.

"Aren't we going to tell the others?" Karolina asked.

"I already have. They encouraged me to get you away from here, although they have no idea what happened." Nico hesitated, her gaze dropping down to her feet as she seemingly contemplated whether or not she wanted to continue saying what was on her mind. "They also suggested we confront Leslie with what we know today. I, of course, told them I'd have to talk it over with you first, but I think it's a good idea. If there's not going to be a sacrifice, we might as well stop wasting time and end this now. Gives your mom less of a chance to figure out what's going on."

"I agree." Karolina nodded. "Why don't we go now?"

"My idiot friends have insisted on coming as backup." Nico rolled her eyes, but Karolina could see in her eyes that she didn't mean it.

"Your idiot friends don't seem that idiotic to me," Karolina said with a small smile. "The more people, the better against my mom."

"Okay good." Nico returned the smile. "They'll be meeting us at my house after school. So we have a couple of hours to kill."

"Take me to the park." Karolina grabbed Nico's hand in hers.

"After I forge a note," Nico said. "We won't be going anywhere if we don't make something up."

"Right," Karolina said. "Forge a note from your mom and then take me to the park."

"Now that's more realistic."

Karolina watched as Nico pulled a piece of paper from one of her folders and began to write in neat script, using the countertop as a writing surface. As she watched, she let her mind wander. Was she really ready to face her mom again in a few short hours? Of course, she would have Nico and her friends there for backup. And the Staff of One. But she had so many feelings too. She'd loved her mother all her life. Finding out the woman she thought she'd known had been nothing more than a lie hurt more than she cared to admit. She had a lot to say to her mother before she was inevitably locked away. Would she really be able to say it all this afternoon? Did her mother even deserve to hear it?

When Nico was finished with her note, she straightened back up again, putting her utensils away and grabbing Karolina's hand with the one that wasn't holding the note. Then she began to pull her out of the bathroom and in the direction of the office.

Karolina didn't know if her mother deserved to hear anything she had to say ever again. All she knew was that all of that hurt and betrayal and anger she'd been feeling would undoubtedly come bubbling up the minute Karolina laid eyes on her mother again. And Karolina didn't care if her mother was left destroyed in its wake.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico takes Karolina to the park to calm down and talk. When they get back home, they make a new discovery that might just change their plan another time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for the continued support for this fic. I'm excited to hear what you think of this new chapter!

By the time Nico pulled Gert's car, which her friend had readily let her borrow, up in front of the park, Karolina was feeling a lot better. The further they got from the school, the less Karolina felt like her mom was going to pop up around every corner she turned. If her mom thought Karolina had run away, then it stood to logic that the first place she would expect Karolina to go would be a school, what with how much she'd talked about wanting to go to one. She would never think to look at the park, though, unless she searched the entire city, which would be impossible to do all in one day. Leslie wasn't going to find Karolina. She and Nico would be fine.

It had been a long time since Karolina had been to a park. The park was a place she'd frequented a lot as a kid with her dad, and she didn't think she'd been back since. She hadn't wanted to go without him.

She hadn't even thought about the park in a while, but now she found herself missing those long days she spent at the one by her old house. What she wouldn't give to have her dad back. Especially now.

Karolina had no doubt that she would be able to trust her dad if he were still around. If Karolina showed him her proof of what Leslie had been up to, he would've left her for sure and taken Karolina with him. Or maybe he would have found out on his own ages ago, and Karolina would've grown up with only her dad instead of her mom. She would be safe right now.

Once they were out of the car, Nico walked around to take Karolina's hand and lead her into the park area. There were two kids there who must have been too young to be in school yet, a young girl climbing on the monkey bars and a little boy going down the slide. Karolina and Nico didn't head over and join them, though. Instead, Nico pulled Karolina over to a path leading into the woods.

"Amy never liked the park much as a kid, but I went a lot with Chase," Nico said as they walked. "We probably walked this nature trail every day there for a while."

"My dad took me to the park a lot," Karolina said, "but we never really walked the nature trails much."

"Then you're in for a treat." Nico smiled.

She was right. It had been so long since Karolina could see that she'd forgotten just how beautiful nature truly was. The path was peaceful and picturesque as Karolina took the time to look around and just see. The tall trees created a canopy overhead to shield the girls from some of the sun's bright light. Colorful birds sang above them and squirrels scurried up the trees. They even saw a cat dart across the path and disappear into the bushes.

Having forgotten exactly what everything looked like, it was breathtaking to be able to see everything again in such striking detail. Nico clearly sensed this because she was quiet as they walked, allowing Karolina to take in everything around her for the first time in eleven years. When Karolina's eyes returned to her companion, though, she found that, while the nature was certainly magnificent, Nico was even more so.

"You're so beautiful." Karolina admired the way the sunlight that filtered through the trees danced in Nico's black hair.

"That's what you have to say about this?" Nico chuckled. "All this gorgeous nature around you, and your only comment is to tell me I'm beautiful?"

"Don't get me wrong, it's all very pretty," Karolina assured her, "but it's nothing compared to you."

"Wow, I guess I should've just taken you home then, if all you wanted to admire is me." Nico gave Karolina a teasing grin.

"No, I'm glad we came here," Karolina said sincerely before her tone turned joking as well. "I prefer to admire you against this pretty backdrop."

"Are you saying my room isn't pretty?" Nico's eyes narrowed in mock offense.

Karolina bumped Nico's shoulder playfully. "You know that's not what I meant."

"So…" Nico sounded tentative, and it was clear that her mood had shifted from two seconds ago. "Can we talk about what happened in the cafeteria before you…freaked out?"

Just like that, all of Karolina's playful energy drained out of her immediately, and she was left with the reality of what would be happening this afternoon. She was going to have to confront her mom about everything that had been going on. She would have to stop pretending she knew nothing, and her mom would stop pretending to be the woman Karolina had always known. She'd find out who Leslie Dean truly was.

"I couldn't stop thinking about my mom showing up there, and…I don't know. Everything's so confusing."

"What do you mean?" Nico prompted her, and Karolina sighed.

"All my life, I've known my mom to be caring and kind, and my mind can't understand that I'm going to see a completely different woman this afternoon. I want to know what happened. My dad wouldn't have married her if she had always been this way, but she has to have been this way for a long time. I want to say that something happened in recent years or that all of this has been one big misunderstanding, but my mom has been killing people for years. And I don't understand how."

"I don't know what made Leslie the way she is," Nico said when Karolina paused to wait for an answer. "I don't know anything about her. All I know is I want you to be able to talk about this, to get everything out before we do what we need to do after school. So I'm gonna listen."

"It's really confusing for me because all I want to do is run home and talk to my mom about all of this. It's what I've always done in the past. I tell her everything, and I feel guilty for keeping this from her, even though I know I can't tell her." Once Karolina started talking, it was like a verbal button had been pushed, and all the words Karolina wanted,  _needed_ , to say came pouring out. "I want my mom to hold me and make me feel safe like she always does. I want to tell her everything without being afraid of her. It feels wrong to be afraid of her because I just want to be there for her and have her be there for me. I love my mom, Nico. I really do."

It felt good to admit it, even though she knew it was wrong. Her mother was a liar and a murderer, and Karolina knew she shouldn't love her anymore at all, should hate her even, but Karolina didn't hate her. She still loved her mother. Or the woman her mother had pretended to be at least.

"Then there's another part of me that wants nothing to do with her," Karolina continued. "She's been using the Staff of One for years, and I've never heard anything about it. Not to mention, she's been  _murdering_ people, and she convinced my little six-year-old brain that it's what we had to do to keep our connection with the Spectrum. She at least had the decency to wipe the killing part of the Ceremony from everyone else's minds, but she never took it from me. I don't think I can ever forgive her for that."

Karolina paused for a moment to catch her breath as they walked, the relaxing scenery a stark contrast to the emotions swirling inside of her. Nico didn't say anything in response, waiting for Karolina to continue. Even the rustling leaves went quiet, as if expecting more. And there was more. Karolina just wished she didn't have to say it.

"The worst part of all of this is that I don't know if my mother ever really cared about me or not. You know, maybe that part of her was real. Maybe she loved me, even though she didn't care about anyone else. But I don't know that. And I want to give her the benefit of the doubt, after everything that she's done for me, but I can't. If she's only been kind to me all this time to get me under her control, like all her other followers, then I never want to see her again."

That was it. That was what bothered Karolina the most. She wanted to know whether her mother cared about her, how she herself should feel about her mother in return, and it was killing her to be so clueless. She knew what her mother had been doing, but she didn't know  _why_. She needed to know why.

She could feel tears burning her eyes, but she quickly blinked them away. She wasn't going to cry today. Her mother wasn't worth crying over.

Nico squeezed Karolina's hand, sensing the blonde had said all she needed to say. "I'm sorry, Karo. I wish I could give you an answer right now because I can see the uncertainty is killing you, but I can't. The only thing I can say for certain is I care about you. So do Gert and Chase and Molly. So will anyone else you meet because you are so easy to love. I know your mom is probably the most important person to you right now, but she's only  _one person_ , and she won't always be so important."

They reached the end of the nature trail, and it was like coming out of a dream. Karolina had lived in the world with only her mom as a true companion for so long that she'd forgotten there were a lot more people in it. That normal she'd wanted in the cafeteria? She could have it, sooner than she'd ever thought possible. Her mom was important to her at the moment, yes, but Nico was right when she said there were plenty of other people who could become important now that Karolina would finally have the chance to meet them.

She could choose her mom, who might never have even cared about her in the first place, or she could choose to move on to a world made up of countless people who will love her more than her mom could've ever hoped to.

It wasn't a difficult choice at all.

"Can we go on the swings?" Karolina asked before she could even think about it.

She hadn't meant to say it. But thinking about people who could care about her made her remember that there was a person who definitely cared about her once, the very person she'd always gone to parks with in the past. Before all of this was over, she wanted a chance to remember what it was like before, when she didn't have a care in the world and was loved without a shadow of a doubt.

"The swings?" Nico was clearly taken aback by the suddenness of the question.

"I haven't been on the swings since I lost my sight, for obvious reasons, and I miss that feeling, of being a kid, of swinging with my dad."

"You could still swing blind, Karo." Nico pointed out. "Easily."

"Like my mom would've let me." Karolina couldn't resist the urge to roll her eyes.

Her mother had controlled her all her life, and she was tired of it. It was high time she started living life on her own terms.

"Okay, well, let's go," Nico said.

The two of them crossed the park area to the swings, and Karolina noticed that the boy and girl from earlier had gone home while she and Nico had been in the forest. The park was completely empty, but it felt fuller than the Church of Gibborim during Service. Nico had that effect on Karolina.

When they reached the swings, Karolina reached behind her to run her hand over the seat of the swing before lowering herself into it. And she immediately rolled her eyes at herself. She could see now. She could've easily looked behind her to check the position of the swing, but for some reason, she still preferred to rely on touch. Being able to see was amazing, but Karolina certainly didn't need sight.

She pushed off from the ground as Nico did the same beside her, and then they were swinging through the air together. Karolina hadn't been allowed on anything that left the ground since she'd gone blind, and only now did she see how truly ridiculous that was. It wasn't like she was going to fall off the swing because she couldn't see. She could  _fly_ , for God's sakes. There was nothing about swinging that would have been even remotely dangerous for her at all.

Going back and forth was a repetitive motion, but Karolina loved the breeze against her cheeks as it blew around the locks of hair that framed her face. As she went up and down, back and forth, Karolina felt like she was flying, truly flying, and she wondered what it would be like to actually fly through open air.

When their swings fell into sync with each other, Karolina looked over with a wide smile. For a moment, she almost expected to see her dad smiling back at her when she turned her head—she'd always found it funny when their swings matched up—but of course that wasn't the case. Instead, she saw Nico, eyes shining with love, and while this was certainly a change from when she was younger, she thought it was a pretty good one.

* * *

The house was quiet when they got back, to Nico's relief. Leslie wasn't staked out there waiting for Karolina to show up. Nico hadn't left any obvious trail for her to follow. She was clueless as to her daughter's whereabouts. For now.

As they walked inside the house, Nico thought about how glad she was they'd gone to the park. Allowing Karolina the chance to talk about her mother had been the right thing to do. The other girl was so much more relaxed than she'd been earlier in the day.

Nico, on the other hand, was still nervous. She was about to face Leslie Dean down in no more than an hour, and it didn't feel real. It also didn't feel possible.

The minute Nico got back inside, she checked to make sure the Staff was in her closet—it was—and then she plugged the flash drive into her computer. She needed to make sure she still had the file.

"Who's paranoid now?" Karolina was watching Nico with an amused smirk.

"I'm being careful," Nico argued. "I need to make sure we still have everything we need."

Only after pulling up the document on her computer did Nico finally relax. They still had the Staff of One and their proof. They were good to go for this afternoon.

"Is that the list?" Karolina came over to stand beside Nico's desk chair.

"Yep." Nico nodded toward the names on the screen. "Every single person Leslie ever killed."

"For absolutely no reason." Karolina shook her head. "I can't believe my religion is complete bullshit."

"Your mom might have corrupted it, but your religion is not bullshit." Nico put a hand on Karolina's arm. "You told me your grandfather created it before Leslie was even born. And you can't possibly believe your dad was ever part of something that wasn't real."

"I guess you're right." The corners of Karolina's lips turned up in a small smile. "Gibborim was real when my dad was a part of it. That's when it was actually about helping people. Now, my mom rarely organizes mission trips, and when the Church does help out, I'm not allowed to get involved."

"There's no reason why you shouldn't be allowed to," Nico said. "I always thought your religion was more of a cult, but it didn't used to be. Maybe you could take over, once your mom is gone, make it something your dad would've been proud of."

"Maybe one day I will." Karolina sighed. "Is it wrong for me to wish my mom had been the one who died in New York instead of my dad? I used to hate myself for thinking it right after it happened, but now I think it might be justified."

"It's definitely justified. Your dad would never have done what your mom has."

"My dad would've made the Church of Gibborim great, and he would've let me choose my own path in life. He would never have kept me cooped up in the Church for so long. He would've worked on getting me comfortable anywhere I went instead of forcing me into a life of captivity like my mom."

And finally Karolina saw her life for what it had truly been. Now that the possibility had arisen that her mom never returned the deep care Karolina felt for her, Karolina could finally see all the ways in which her mom was hurting her.

"I don't get it." Nico sighed. "How does a woman who truly believed in your religion and doing good for the world and who was so devoted to helping others turn into someone like this?"

"Because the power got to her head when that old man gave her that stupid Staff." Karolina rolled her eyes.

But Nico didn't think so. Leslie hadn't believed in the Staff at first, had dismissed the information of its power as folklore and taken it as a souvenir. For her to have truly believed in its power, she had to have hoped it would work, needed it to work. So maybe she'd already started on her path to villainy before she ever even picked up the Staff of One in the first place. Maybe she'd done something so bad that the Staff was the only one she could have turned to.

"One thing about the Staff still doesn't add up. How did Leslie even know she could sacrifice someone to the Staff to give it more power? That wasn't written in the notes she took when she first got it. She didn't even believe in its power back then, so there's no way that old man told her about it." Nico swallowed, gaze darting away from Karolina's eyes as she voiced her newfound theory. "She had to have done something so bad that her only hope was to believe the Staff of One would work. She had to have killed someone."

"You think my mom killed someone before she even started using the Staff at all?" Karolina asked, eyes dark.

She knew it was possible as much as Nico did. In fact, it was starting to look like the only possibility for the discrepancy.

"So your mom kills someone." Nico sets the scene. "Maybe it was on purpose. Maybe it was an accident. I'm not giving an opinion on that. Anyway, she's freaked out because she has no idea what to do, and she's never killed anyone before. She would go to her husband, if this was before he died, but she knows he'll leave her for it, so she doesn't. That's when she remembers the Staff. That old Haitian man said it could do anything, right? So she grabs it and tells it to get rid of the body, and it does. And she never lets it out of her sight after that because she now knows it can always protect her."

In that moment, Nico could feel all of the pieces coming together. If the Staff had helped Leslie out of a crisis situation, one that would've gotten her years in prison, then it made sense that she would never want to let it out of her sight again, that she would kill to keep it.

"Why did she need more power, though?" Karolina asked. "If this Staff can already do anything, what does it even mean to fuel its power?"

"I don't know." Nico scrolled down to the sentence at the bottom of the document. "That's all it says. There's no description or anything."

She wished there was another page of the file or something else for her to go off of, but there was nothing. Whatever additional information she learned would depend on what Leslie would tell her this afternoon. And she planned on getting all of the information she could.

That was when she noticed it. The sentence at the end of the document, the one that explained that the sacrifices fueled the Staff's power, was missing a period, as if it wasn't really over.

A flash of a memory from Nico's ninth-grade biology class popped into her head. Her teacher used to project a brainteaser onto the board at the beginning of class with the answer written in white ink underneath, making it invisible to the class. When they would guess correctly, he would highlight a previously blank portion of the document and click on the black ink button so everyone could see what was actually written there. What if Leslie had done the same thing? What if the lack of period was a clue?

What if there was something written on this document in white ink, something that Leslie had decided, sometime since writing it, that she didn't want to remember?

"I think there's something else written here." Nico highlighted all the space below the sentence and clicked the black ink button. More writing immediately appeared. She had been right.

She gasped at what she saw.

"What does it say?" Karolina asked.

"'Each sacrifice must be performed to fuel the power of the Staff of One, to maintain harmony with it, so it doesn't choose for itself.'" Nico gripped the edge of the desk with both hands to stop them from shaking. "Karolina, I don't think the sacrifice gives the Staff more power. I think the sacrifice has to be given in order to use the Staff's power at all, otherwise it chooses for itself. You mom must've started using the Staff, and then it…"

She trailed off when she turned to Karolina to see the stricken look on her face. Her eyes were wide and staring at the wall, almost as if she'd suddenly gone blind again.

"Karolina, what is it?" Nico asked.

"That's how she knew." Karolina's voice was so small that Nico almost didn't hear it.

"Knew what?" Nico wasn't sure she wanted to know.

Karolina took a shaky breath before her eyes finally met Nico's again. "I think my dad was the first sacrifice."


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karolina and Nico alter their plan in light of their newest discovery, and the group prepares for the next day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I promised a few of you in the comments last week, here is the next chapter! I really hope you all enjoy it :D

"Your dad?" Nico's mind was reeling, but the more she thought about it, the more it made sense.

"My mom told me he was shot in New York, but she's lied about so many things, and what if that's just another one?" Karolina's shock was quickly turning to anger. "I can't believe she's the reason my dad's dead, and she never told me."

Nico wished she could tell Karolina she was wrong, but she couldn't think of one single reason she would be. It made perfect sense. Leslie started using the Staff of One for some still unknown reason, but she didn't know about the sacrifice, so the Staff took her husband, the person it knew would hurt her most. And every year since, she'd prevented it from choosing someone else by offering someone up on her own.

"I'm so sorry, Karolina."

It didn't feel like enough. No amount of words could make up for the fact that Karolina's dad had been killed by her mom's actions.

Nico stood from her chair and pulled Karolina into a hug, holding her tightly against her, as if she could protect her from all the world's evils, as if she could finally wake her from this nightmare that seemed never-ending.

Karolina squeezed Nico tightly back, holding on for a few long seconds before pulling back and composing herself. "You know what this means, don't you?"

"Your mom's going to be doing a sacrifice tomorrow." Nico realized it the second she saw the grim look in Karolina's blue eyes.

" _And_ we can't stop her," Karolina added.

"What do you mean, we can't stop her?" Nico asked. "We can still go through with the plan after school today, get her confession and all, and get her arrested before tomorrow even rolls around. No Leslie at the Church, no sacrifice."

"Someone's going to die anyway, so why not let her choose?" Fire burned in Karolina's blue eyes at an intensity Nico hadn't been expecting, and Nico felt anger start to stir in her own chest as well.

"Because that's awful, Karolina. Leslie shouldn't get to play God. If the Staff has to choose a sacrifice, then we let  _it_ choose at random. We don't let your mom murder someone in cold blood. And then we hand the Staff over to the police and let them deal with it from there on out."

"No." Steely determination flashed in Karolina's eyes. "I won't let the Staff choose its own sacrifice because what if it chooses you?"

"Karolina…" Nico wanted to argue with her. There were so many things wrong with killing an innocent person on the off-chance that someone you loved might die, with treating one person's life as more important than someone else's. But she could see where Karolina was coming from. And where she was going next.

"Can you honestly tell me you'd be fine with losing another person you love?" Karolina continued. "Nico, what if it chooses me?"

In that moment, Nico's brain betrayed her, forcing her to picture it. A victory over Leslie only to lose Karolina. Another funeral. Another casket. Karolina being lowered into the ground the same way Amy had been. Nico wanted to be the hero, wanted to be good, but Karolina was right. The Staff could choose her. It could choose her or Gert or Molly or  _Chase_ , and Nico couldn't lose anyone else she loved.

"I'm not saying we let her get away with it," Karolina said. "I'm just saying we wait for her to do the sacrifice before we confront her. We can fight her if we have to, do whatever it takes to get the truth out of her. And then we hand her over to the police."

"Okay," Nico relented, "we'll let her do the sacrifice first. But then we're back to Plan A. We confront her after the Ceremony is over, get all the information we need, and then hold her until the cops get there. The others probably won't be happy about waiting another day, but…they'll understand."

Karolina nodded in agreement. "Right now, though, why don't we get some practice in? I know you said it doesn't take much practice to use the Staff of One, but you haven't practiced on a flying target yet, and I'm sure we could both use some practice dodging as well."

Nico had to admit it would be helpful to practice with Karolina, but there was one small problem. "You can't fly in my backyard, Karo. The whole block will see you."

"So let's practice in the woods." Karolina shrugged.

Nico nodded briskly. She was done sitting around wasting time. If she was going to confront Leslie tomorrow, then she was going to make sure she was as prepared as she could be. What Leslie was doing had been going on for far too long, but this was the year it ended. Nico intended to make sure of that.

* * *

When Karolina finally shot up into the sky, the two of them far enough into the woods behind Nico's house that no one would see them, she did a few happy twirls, excited to be flying in open air, despite the unfortunate circumstances surrounding their practice session. Her carefree nature soon fell away, though, as she turned all of her attention to dodging Nico's attacks.

Karolina was a lot easier of a target than Nico had expected, and she thought that perhaps she had been wrong when she'd considered Karolina to be the closest she would come to fighting Leslie. She used the same foam balls she used when she practiced with Gert and Molly, but she hit Karolina as easily as she'd been able to hit them. It looked like the blonde was having a hard time reacting quickly and finding each ball with her eyes at the same time. Nico was just about to suggest Karolina close her eyes and rely on her other senses when Karolina suggested Nico practice with weapons she'd actually use against her mom tomorrow.

"I'm not throwing anything dangerous at you, Karolina," Nico argued. "I won't risk hurting you."

"You won't hurt me," Karolina said, "and even if you do, we have the Staff to heal me."

"If you're trying to convince me, it definitely isn't working." Nico glared at her.

"Fine, I'll close my eyes and only use my other senses to dodge whatever you throw at me." Karolina rolled her eyes. "Better?"

Admittedly, that did calm Nico's fears a bit, but she didn't want to let her girlfriend know she was actually thinking about it.

"You're not going to give this up, are you?" she asked instead.

"Nope." Karolina twirled in the air, a mini tornado of rainbow. "It'll be great practice for both of us."

"Okay." Nico said with a sigh. "I'll do it. But you better be extremely careful."

Karolina's only response was to close her eyes, taking a deep breath in as she let herself readjust to having the only senses she was used to and then letting it go as she motioned with her hands for Nico to start.

" _Lightning_ ," Nico said.

A jagged bolt of electricity arced toward Karolina, and Nico's nerves sparked in time with it as it got closer to her. She knew Karolina could feel the things around her when she was lit up, but what if she didn't feel this? What if it hit her? Would it kill her? Why couldn't Nico have thought of something a little safer?

All her worries proved to be for nothing as Karolina flew further up to avoid the lightning before it could make contact with her. Instead, it slammed into the tree behind her, lighting it ablaze with flames, and Nico's eyes widened.

" _Extinguish._ "

The fire immediately went out, and Nico breathed a sigh of relief. She wanted to practice sure, but she didn't want to kill the planet in the process. She also didn't want to risk Karolina getting hit by a falling tree. She needed to think of something else, something a bit less destructive. She could save the lightning for Leslie.

"That's one way to start." Karolina laughed as she looked at the slightly blackened surface of the tree.

"Shut up." Nico cracked a smile at her own destructiveness. "Just close your eyes."

Karolina complied, and Nico considered the next word that popped into her head before she said it aloud. Best not to act on a whim when controlling such a powerful object.

" _Arrow_ ," she said.

As an arrow launched from the Staff as if shot from a bow, Nico didn't feel quite as nervous as she had only moments ago. If she actually happened to hit Karolina, it might hurt for a moment, but Nico would easily be able to heal her before anything serious happened.

Karolina easily flew out of range of Nico's arrow, though, and Nico marveled at how Karolina was so good at this without even opening her eyes. Before, Karolina's movements had been clumsy at best, but Nico now realized how wrong she'd been when she'd thought Karolina was an easy target. Karolina thought she needed sight right now, but Nico didn't think that was necessarily true because, in a battle situation, it seemed that sight was doing Karolina more harm than good. Nico didn't say anything, though. Whether or not she wanted to be able to see was Karolina's choice, not Nico's.

More pressing right now was the fact that Nico didn't even seem to be worrying Karolina with her attacks, wasn't even coming close to hitting her. And if Karolina wasn't worried, Leslie wouldn't be either. She needed something bigger, something harder to deflect.

_"Rock shower."_

About twenty small rocks flew out of the Staff, more than Nico had intended, and shot toward Karolina. She tried to dodge them, but the shock was clear on her face. She hadn't expected so many objects to be launched her way, and Nico knew she was going to get hit with more than one of them. She wanted to feel triumphant that she was about to best Karolina with this spell, but she couldn't feel anything other than guilt.

Only, at that moment, Karolina threw out her hands to protect herself from the worst of the blow, and powerful beams of light flew from her palms, incinerating the rocks before they could reach her. Nico hadn't won after all. It seemed Karolina was near impossible to beat.

"How the hell did you do that?" Nico couldn't keep the amazement from her voice.

"I—I don't know." Karolina stared down at her hands, sounding every bit as shocked as Nico. "I felt the rocks coming at me, so I tried to shield myself, but then…that happened."

"Try to hit me with your light. If you can do that, then your mom can too, so it'd be great for me to practice dodging those kinds of attacks."

"I don't know if I can. I don't even know how I did that."

"Just try it."

It seemed like Nico was going to have to try a lot harder if she wanted to bring any harm to Leslie, so she needed to make sure she could get away from Leslie's attacks as well as it seemed Leslie was going to be able to dodge hers. She had the Staff, so she should have the upper hand tomorrow. Not to mention, she wouldn't hold anything back tomorrow the way she was right now with Karolina.

Seconds later, Nico's attention was dragged to the present again as Karolina managed to replicate the power she'd just discovered, and Nico was faced with a wall of rainbow light. She wondered what would happen to her if she did nothing and let it hit her, but she certainly didn't want to find out through experience.

_"Block."_ Nico held up the Staff like it was an extension of her own body.

A shield enveloped Nico and fizzled out Karolina's light before it could reach her. As her shield dissipated, Nico looked up to see Karolina still looking completely shocked, and Nico wondered when she was going to stop being hit with such big revelations.

"I never knew I could do that before," she said. "Why didn't my mom ever tell me?"

"There are a lot of things your mom never told you, Karo." Nico's mouth settled into a grim line. "She probably didn't want you to know in case you turned on her. She knew you'd naturally figure it out if you were in any real danger."

Karolina's eyes fell past Nico as she finished speaking, and Nico turned around to see Chase hurrying toward her, Gert and Molly trailing after him.

"Sorry I'm late." He skidded to a halt beside Nico. "I had to make a quick stop at my house first."

Nico knew exactly what he meant. "You finished the Fistagons?"

"Yup." Chase nodded, rooting around in his backpack for a moment before pulling out two mechanical gauntlets. "I'll be your backup."

"And we'll be moral support," Molly said as she and Gert caught up to Chase. "Strength in numbers."

"Great," Nico said. "You can join us then. We're training."

"Training?" Chase asked. "I thought you said you've done all you can with the Staff."

"That was before practicing with Karolina was an option. She has the same powers as Leslie, so it stands to reason that fighting her will be almost as difficult. And it's actually been really difficult."

"I have powers I never even knew about before." Karolina landed gently beside them. "I can shoot light from my hands, and who knows what happens if it hits you? Obviously, my mom will be able to do the same."

"And that's not the only thing we found out," Nico said grimly. "Leslie's planning on going through with the sacrifice with or without the Staff, so we're changing our plans. We're confronting Leslie tomorrow after she does the sacrifice. We're letting her go through with it."

Nobody spoke right away, and Nico could easily see the shock in their eyes as they processed this new information. Nico wished they would accept it without explanation so she wouldn't have to tell them the terrible truth and freak them out even more, but she knew one member of her friend group wouldn't accept it. The very member whose shocked expression turned not to relief or disappointment but to rage.

"That's completely insane." Gert's eyes danced with fire. "How can you possibly be okay with Leslie murdering some innocent teenager?"

"I'm not okay with it," Nico returned. "I'm just less okay with Chase or Karolina getting hurt trying to help me stop her and then her doing the sacrifice anyway because we fail."

"Who said you're going to fail? Don't you at least owe it to this kid to try? You wouldn't even hesitate if it was Amy.  _She_ risked her life to stop these kids from getting murdered, so how can you sit here and tell me you're not willing to do the same?"

"That's not fair," Nico said.

Gert didn't know the whole story, but her words still sliced Nico to her core. She was right. There was no way Amy would let Leslie kill another person if she could help it. So what would she have done if she'd known about what happened if no sacrifice was offered? Would she have still tried to stop Leslie? Nico feared she knew the answer.

"I'm the one who convinced Nico not to stop her," Karolina spoke up before Gert could respond.

Gert whipped around to face the blonde, turning her anger on Karolina. "Why? Because you don't want us to hurt your precious mommy?"

Blue fire sprang up into Karolina's eyes at the accusation. "I don't give a damn what happens to her, but it doesn't matter if we stop the sacrifice or not. Someone's still going to die."

"What do you mean?" All traces of anger were wiped completely away from Gert's face at the news.

"There was something else on that document," Nico said quietly, "written in white ink to make it invisible. If no one is sacrificed for the Staff of One, it chooses a sacrifice for itself."

No one spoke for a good minute. Gert tried, opening her mouth a few times before abruptly closing it again, but her mind was clearly blanking on possible responses.

"So we…do nothing?" Chase finally asked.

Nico nodded. "I know it isn't right to let Leslie choose who lives and who dies, but I would much rather it be some random kid from her congregation than any of you. Okay? So we're not stopping the sacrifice tomorrow."

"You're really going to let an innocent person die?" Gert tried one more time, but there was no confidence in her tone, no conviction to her question.

"An innocent person is going to die either way."

It was the truth, but it still wasn't right. Nico knew it with every fiber of her being. Attaching more importance to the lives of her friends than the life of the person Leslie was planning on killing was selfish and wrong. Nico knew what Amy would have done, and it wasn't what she and her friends were planning on doing now. But Nico wasn't Amy. She would never be as strong as Amy had been.

"Enough of the morbid talk." Molly spoke up for the first time in a while. "Someone's going to die, and there's nothing we can do about it. That blows, but standing here arguing about it isn't helping anyone. Leslie will kill someone tomorrow, but we need to make sure that's the last person she kills. So go ahead. Practice."

"I could still use more practice with the Fistagons." Chase held up the gauntlet he was still holding.

"Catch me if you can." Karolina smiled as she shot into the air again, flying high above all of their heads.

Chase hurriedly put on his gloves, and Nico watched in amazement as electricity actually shot from them and into the air. She had no idea how he'd managed to make them all on his own, but he had, and the end result was definitely worth it.

Unfortunately, though, he didn't have any more luck against Karolina than Nico had with the Staff. She was starting to think Leslie Dean might actually be unbeatable. Sure, Nico could cast a spell on her to make her tell the truth, but she would also have to find a way to subdue her while they talked. What could she possibly conjure up that Leslie wouldn't find some way out of?

Eventually, Nico joined in the fight, trying to attack Karolina with Chase in order to throw her off guard. It wasn't easy, but Nico finally got her when she conjured up an invisible wall for Karolina to run into. She immediately fell toward the ground after hitting it, dazed, but she was able to get her bearings and shoot back up again before she made contact with it, to Nico's relief. If she landed wrong from that height… Perhaps Nico should tell her to fly closer to the ground.

Before she could, though, Chase sent a Fistagon blast her way, and she quickly brought the Staff up to shield her.

" _Block,"_ she said, proud of herself for having been quick to react.

Only no shield appeared this time, and Nico felt the full force of the blast as she was rocketed backward off of her feet. She hit the ground hard, grunting as pain lanced through her shoulder. Karolina was by her side in an instant.

"Nico, are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine." Nico sat up to reassure her, biting back a yelp. "My shoulder isn't so fine, though."

"I'm sorry, Nico," Chase said as he reached her side as well. "I didn't mean to actually hit you."

"Why not? Isn't that what we're supposed to be doing?" She shot him a small smile to let him know it was okay. "I just didn't expect the Staff to crap out on me like that. It worked last time I asked it to block me."

"Each command can only be used once," Karolina said, as if she were reciting something from memory. "That's it, Nico! When you read that document explaining what the Staff does, it said you could ask the Staff to do anything, but only once. So maybe you can only use the same word once?"

"You're right." Nico almost forgot about the pain in her shoulder. "How did you even remember that?"

"I don't know." Karolina ducked her head shyly at the praise.

Nico looked behind her for the Staff, which had fallen from her hand upon landing, but Karolina beat her to it, picking it up and holding it out in Nico's direction before speaking a spell of her own.

" _Heal."_

Just like that, Nico's pain vanished, and she instantly felt ten times better as she accepted the Staff back from Karolina. She pushed herself up from the ground, about to tell her friends to retake their places when Gert sighed from where she and Molly were sitting on the ground.

"I wish there was something I could do to help tomorrow."

"Like Molly said, strength in numbers," Nico told her. "You guys will be there to help us blend in with everyone else before we turn the tables on Leslie."

"And then what? We just…leave?"

"You'll file out with everyone else and call the cops outside," Nico told her, not wanting her powerless friends to come to any harm.

"Calling the cops is really important, Gert," Molly reassured her older sister. "Without them, all of us will probably die."

"And you can be the driver," Nico added. "You're the only one who has a car besides Chase, and I'm doubting he lets us take the Audi."

Chase shrugged in response, as firm a no as any, and a tiny smile spread across Gert's face.

"Okay," she said. "I'll be the driver and call the cops with Molls."

"Good," Nico said before turning back to Chase and Karolina. "I think it will also be good for me to stop wasting spells during practice, now that we know there's a limited amount. We're as ready as we're ever going to be."

"You sure?" Karolina looked sort of nervous.

"Yes," Nico said confidently.

No amount of preparation was going to get them ready for what they would face tomorrow. Nico knew that now. There was no way to predict what Leslie would do or how she would react. As long as they each had good control of their respective "powers," there wasn't much more they could gain from practicing all afternoon. That would only lead them to exhaustion, and they needed to make sure they had ample strength tomorrow.

Going up against Leslie would be difficult, but it wouldn't be impossible given that there were three of them and Nico had the power of the Staff on her side. For now, the best thing she could do was keep a wide range of spells available to lower the risk of her mind blanking in the heat of the moment.

The five of them didn't speak much as they began to walk back towards Nico's house, Karolina scooping her bracelet up from where she had discarded it in the grass, all of them probably too caught up in their thoughts of what was coming to be bothered with making conversation. Nico wondered if they actually believed they could pull it off or if they had too many doubts to count.

As Nico watched the swirls of rainbow coloring the skin of the girl walking slightly ahead of her, she mustered up as much hope as she could. They could do this. They would take Leslie down tomorrow and save the lives of countless more kids. They would be heroes.

When they reached the tree line, though, Karolina clasped her bracelet back around her wrist, her vibrant colors going out instantly. Nico tried her best not to let her hope die with them.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys. As you all know, season 3 of Runaways comes out on Friday, and I am so excited for it to drop! However, I will not be watching it all at once because I don't want it to be given back to me and taken away again all in one day. So I'm going to ask you to please keep any comments about this story specifically. Please don't write about the new season in the comments. Thank you to everyone who continues to read each new update and a special thank you to those who comment on every chapter. I love hearing your thoughts, and I appreciate all of you so much! Sorry in advance for the cliffhanger ending on this one...XD

As the clock crept closer and closer to lunchtime, Nico grew more and more nervous. Should she go through with the plan she'd set with her friends, leave at lunch time and take Leslie down after the Ceremony, or go through with the one that had been forming in her head all morning? If the five of them left school around noon, they'd easily make it to the Church in time to corner Leslie after the Ceremony. But Nico wasn't so sure she wanted the Ceremony to take place at all.

If she left early, she'd be long gone before her friends even figured out what was happening, and everything would be done and over with before they could even get involved. Sure, they'd all be furious with her, but they'd forgive her when they found out she hadn't been hurt. If she didn't get hurt.

Nico knew that getting hurt was a strong possibility and that her odds of survival decreased if she confronted Leslie alone, but she felt it had to be that way. She couldn't risk her friends' lives for something she had started. None of them would even know about any of this if it wasn't for her. This was something she needed to do on her own.

Lunch was fast approaching as she sat in English class with Karolina. If she was going to do this, she needed to do this now. Wait much longer, and she would give her friends the chance to stop her. She didn't want to give them that chance.

Ten minutes before class got out.

It was now or never.

After asking the teacher for the hall pass, she slipped out into the hallway without raising any suspicion at all. No matter how hard she tried, though, Nico couldn't help but feel guilty for leaving Karolina behind. She didn't feel guilty because she didn't think Karolina could take care of herself. She felt guilty because she felt like Karolina should be with her. Leslie was her mom, and what Nico was about to do would affect her more than anyone. But she needed Karolina to be safe. And she would be safe here.

Nico swallowed the self-loathing that rose up inside of her at the thought of taking Karolina's choice away from her. It was what Leslie had done to her all her life, and she deserved to be free from that now. But Nico would much rather take Karolina's choice away than give Leslie the chance to take away her life.

Not wanting to go through the front office, Nico pushed herself out a side exit and scanned the junior/senior parking lot for any sign of the Uber she had ordered 20 minutes ago. It didn't look like anyone was here to pick her up yet, but she knew it wouldn't be long now. She made her way over to the east entrance to the school, where she would be easy for the driver to spot.

Before she could get more than ten steps, though, she felt a hand on her shoulder, stopping her in her tracks, and she cursed internally. She'd been followed.

She turned around, ready to explain to Karolina what was going on and why she had to go back inside, but it wasn't Karolina she saw.

It was Leslie.

The ground swayed beneath Nico's feet.

"I believe you have something that belongs to me." Leslie sounded calm, but there was anger boiling beneath the surface.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Nico's voice came out steady and confident. She wanted to avoid bringing Leslie's obvious anger out at all costs.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about." Leslie didn't even miss a beat. "The Staff of One. Where is it?"

"Whatever you're looking for, I don't have it." Nico found herself wishing her answer was true. The Staff of One was in her backpack, right where she had placed it this morning.

As many times as Nico had pictured her confrontation with Leslie in her mind, she'd never imagined not having the upper hand. She needed to get that Staff from her bag without Leslie noticing, which was going to be damn near impossible to do. She was pretty much trapped, and she found herself wishing she'd stuck to the plan and stayed with her friends.

"Don't play dumb with me." Leslie held out her wrist, drawing Nico's attention to a sort of smartwatch. "When I came into possession of the Staff, I designed this watch to alert me if anyone else ever tried to use it by giving me the location of its magic, an insurance policy in case I ever lost it. And yesterday, I got plenty of notifications of its usage from one place: your house."

"You're crazy." Nico cursed herself when her voice broke. She couldn't deny, though, that she was scared. She had to keep this woman talking, right? Karolina would come looking for her soon.

"I expected you to come after me yourself the second you figured out what it could do." Leslie completely ignored her. "But I'm out of time now, so I can't wait any longer."

"Fine." Nico steeled herself, looking into eyes that were so much like Karolina's in appearance but so different in expression. "My sister gave me the Staff of One when she stole it from you last year, and she told me everything. I know all about your sacrifices and your powers and your glowing daughter."

At the mention of her daughter, the crazy look in Leslie's eyes disappeared. All of her previous malice was replaced by something that Nico would only describe as worry. "Karolina's been gone for over a day. Do you know where she is?"

For a moment, Leslie looked like nothing more than a frantic mom, bloodshot eyes from lack of sleep and face desperate as she questioned someone on the whereabouts of her daughter. Nico couldn't keep the surprise from her face. She'd been convinced Leslie had never cared about Karolina at all, but that clearly wasn't the case. It seemed Leslie cared about Karolina maybe more than anything, and Nico wondered if she had made a grave error in taking her away. Leslie would be even more unpredictable now.

"I wish I could help you, but I've never even met your daughter." It was easy for Nico to fake sympathy and keep her fear in check when it came to this matter. Karolina's life was a lot more important to her than her own.

"You've taken her, haven't you?" Leslie accused. "Where is she? Is she even still alive?"

Leslie clearly had no idea what was going on between Nico and her daughter, but she'd somehow caught Nico in her lie. Either that, or she wanted to blame Nico because she was the only person who knew about the Staff. No matter what the reason for Leslie's sudden belief that Nico had stolen Karolina away from her, she couldn't admit to it. She needed to lie and make it a good one. She needed to give Leslie what she wanted.

"You really think I'm holding your daughter hostage somewhere? I'm not some evil mastermind, lady. Maybe she ran away because she has a murderer for a mom. All I know is what my sister told me, and all I have is the Staff of One. Now do you want your stupid magic wand back or not?"

Nico sounded every bit the bratty, annoyed teenager she was trying to be, and she could tell her words had done the trick when she saw the rage spring up in Leslie's eyes. She knew there was practically no way this was going to end well for her, but she was going to make sure it ended well for Karolina. So Nico would do everything she could to keep Leslie's focus on her and away from the school, where Karolina was safely hidden away.

"If you ever speak to me that way again, you will be sorry. Now hand it over."

Leslie held out her hand, and Nico was torn. She could run and try to get help, but Leslie could easily take her out before she got farther than a few feet. Nico could take the chance that Leslie might not risk knocking her out before she knew the exact location of the Staff, but she knew that chance wasn't a very good one. No, her best hope was to grab the Staff of One and hope she could think of a spell and use it before Leslie ripped it out of her hands.

The minute she reached for her backpack, though, trying to unzip it as fast as she could, she saw Leslie's hand begin to glow white like Karolina's entire body glowed rainbow. Nico grabbed for the handle of the Staff, but before it could even elongate, a blow that felt a lot harder than she'd expected hit the side of her head.

That was the last thing she remembered before the world went black.

* * *

It had been five minutes since Nico had left for the bathroom, and she still hadn't returned yet. At least, Karolina thought it had been five minutes. The only clock in the room was the one on the wall, and unfortunately for Karolina, it was not a digital one. She remembered Nico saying that lunch would be at 11:45 today, but Karolina had no way of telling when that was. What was worse, the numbers on the clock were all Roman numerals, so Karolina had no hope of even figuring them out. The biggest hand pointed to VIII, and the smaller hand was in between XI and XII, and Karolina really wished she'd been more curious about how to tell time before now.

The longer that passed, the more worried Karolina got. It became harder and harder for her not to spring up right there in the middle of class and ask if she could go to the bathroom as well. The teacher didn't seem worried, though, so Karolina tried her best to calm down. Maybe it hadn't been as long as she thought it had.

When the bell rang and Nico still hadn't reappeared, Karolina sprang from her seat and headed for the bathrooms that she saw across the hall, making her way into the one with the picture of a woman on it. She checked under every single stall, but it was empty. No one was inside.

Karolina looked up and caught a glimpse of her own harried expression in the mirror, eyes wild. She marveled at how Nico, someone whose existence she didn't even know about three months ago, had become so incredibly important to her. Karolina didn't know what she'd do if she lost her today.

After hurrying back out into the hallway, Karolina realized the place had become overrun by students. She tried scanning the hallway for any sign of Nico or her friends, but she quickly became dizzy with all of the faces to search. She wondered how it was that people were able to pick a single person out of a crowd.

Glancing up and down the hallway, Karolina tried to remember which way she and Nico had come. If she could make it back to Nico's locker, she'd be able to find Chase and tell him what had happened. The only problem was that both ends of the hallway looked exactly the same, and Karolina hadn't been paying that much attention on their way to the classroom because…well, she hadn't had to.

For the first time since having it, Karolina cursed her sight. If she'd still been blind, she would've had the directions from Nico's locker to the classroom memorized to the step count.

Standing there trying to remember which way she'd come, though, wasn't going to help anyone. The best thing she could do was choose a direction at random and hope it would lead her to Chase before it was too late. She turned right and hurried down the hallway. There was no time to waste.

Pushing past countless people, Karolina tried her best to look for a tall boy with brown hair, but there were so many people around that Karolina feared she would be lost in this endless sea of bodies forever. Her esophagus started to close up, and she fought for breath as she turned another corner. She wasn't going to find Nico. It was over.

Just as she was about to collapse against a wall and sink to the ground in an attempt to calm down, she spotted Chase holding hands with Gert next to what must have been his locker. On instinct, her eyes slid to the locker next to his, praying to the Spectrum or whatever might be listening that she would find Nico in front of it, but Nico wasn't there.

"Chase!" she yelled.

He turned with a smile on his face, but it instantly fell away when he saw whatever look was on Karolina's face. Judging by his reaction, it was cause for concern.

"Whoa, Karolina, what's going on?" Chase pulled her into a hug when she reached him, and she collapsed against him, grateful for the contact. "Where's Nico?"

"I don't know." Karolina sounded as hysterical as she felt. "She asked to go to the bathroom in class, but she never came back, so I searched the bathrooms for her and half the school it feels like, but she's gone, and I have no idea what happened to her. What if my mom found her somehow?"

She wanted nothing more than to give into the sobs she felt rising in her throat, but she couldn't. She needed to be strong for Nico. Every minute she wasted crying was another minute Nico remained in danger. She pulled back from Chase's arms. They needed a new plan.

Gert placed a comforting hand on her arm. "How would Leslie even have gotten in here? Do you really think she would stand in an empty hallway and wait for Nico to leave her class?"

"Leslie doesn't have Nico." Chase's expression was grim. "Nico went to the Church of Gibborim without us."

"What? Not even she would be that crazy, right?" But Gert looked uncertain, and Karolina knew without a shadow of a doubt that it was the truth.

Ever since Karolina had met Nico, the other girl had always put everyone else first. She'd come to the Church for Amy, and she hadn't let Chase come with her because she didn't want him to get hurt. She wasn't even going to tell Gert and Molly about any of this at all because she didn't want them getting involved, and she'd taken Karolina from the Church to protect her from her mom.

The plan to take down her mother was a great one, but Karolina should've known Nico never intended to go through with it. Why risk Karolina and Chase's lives when she only had to risk her own?

"Chase is right," Karolina said. "That's exactly what she did."

"That doesn't even make any sense," Gert protested.

But it did make sense. And something else was starting to make a lot more sense to Karolina now too. Nico wasn't sticking to the plan. She was going to be there for the Ceremony because she had never planned on letting Leslie go through with the sacrifice at all.

"She's stopping the sacrifice." Tears streaked down Karolina's cheeks as she realized the truth. "She wants to sacrifice my mom instead."

Identical looks of horror washed over Chase and Gert's faces, and any doubts Karolina had prior to this moment vanished.

"We can't let Nico do this," Karolina said. "We have to go after her before my mom hurts her. We have to."

"Okay, we'll leave now." Chase nodded at Karolina before turning to Gert. "You have to find Molly and let her know what's going on."

"What are you talking about? I'm coming with you." Gert crossed her arms defensively, daring Chase to argue with her.

Chase shook his head. It seemed that look wasn't going to work on him today. "Molly cares about Nico too. If we leave her out of this, she'll never forgive us, and you know it. Especially if something happens to us."

"Nothing's going to happen," Gert said, but she nodded all the same.

"You're right." Chase pressed a kiss to Gert's lips before turning to Karolina. She could see in his eyes that he didn't quite believe his words. "Let's go."

"Shouldn't we grab Gert's keys?" Karolina asked as she watched the purple-haired girl hurry off down the hallway.

"Her car's way too slow." Chase grabbed his own car keys from his pocket, mouth still set in a grim line. "We'll take the Audi."


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now for the chapter you've all been waiting for: the confrontation with Leslie! Enjoy :)

When Karolina and Chase arrived at the Church of Gibborim, they found the congregation space empty. The entire place was eerily quiet, and Karolina knew that could only mean one thing. Even when Service wasn't actively taking place, there was always movement somewhere during the daytime hours.

"We're too late," she said. "They're already doing the Ceremony."

"How do you know that?" Chase asked.

"It's too quiet." Karolina shook her head. She should've gone after Nico sooner.

A look of fear came over Chase's face as he looked at Karolina. "You don't think…"

He didn't even need to say anything for Karolina to know exactly what he was thinking. She was thinking the same thing. If Nico had been able to stop her mom, this place would be in chaos. Which meant Leslie had bested Nico.

"Nothing happened to Nico." Karolina tried to convince herself as well as Chase. "She has the Staff of One. Maybe she's hiding somewhere."

"Why would she do that?" Chase's mouth was a grim line.

She wouldn't. That was the answer. They needed to find her before it was too late.

Unclasping her bracelet, Karolina pressed it into Chase's hands before shooting up into the air. She knew it would be much faster to fly, and there was no time to waste. Not when Karolina's mom could change her mind and use her unexpected visitor as the sacrifice instead.

Karolina closed her eyes so she could easily make her way down the familiar hallways. She hadn't seen the inside of the Church of Gibborim since she was five, and she knew that navigating by sight would only serve to slow her down.

When she reached the hallway that housed the large room where the Cleansing Ceremony was usually held, her heart sank when she heard the sounds of many voices in the hall. She was too late. The Ceremony was already over. Sure enough, she opened her eyes to see people filing out of the room and continuing on their way down the hall (in the opposite direction, thankfully).

Karolina quickly ducked back around the corner and dropped to the ground before anyone could see her, but it appeared that someone already had. Not three seconds later, a young man with dark hair and a crisp blue button-down shirt rounded the corner with wide eyes.

"Karolina?!" Vaughn closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again. "I'm dreaming. I must be dreaming right now. This isn't possible. You can't possibly be glowing. Were you…flying?"

She blushed at the realization that her entire body was lit up in vibrant colors, and she immediately killed her glow before he could question her any further. "I'll explain some other time. Right now, just please tell me, is the Ceremony over?"

"Yes, it's over." Vaughn held up his hands in surrender. "I don't understand any of this. Are you really here, or are you a vision from the Spectrum? Where have you been?"

"I'll tell you later," she said again over her shoulder as she sprinted in the direction of the now-empty room.

She didn't even think to look back at Vaughn as she burst into the room. All she could think about was what he had told her. The sacrifice was done. Everyone's minds had been wiped.  _Oh no oh no oh no._

Her mom was still standing at the front of the room, and it only took Karolina a second to realize she had seen Nico at some point. She was holding the Staff of One.

But Nico was nowhere to be seen.

Leslie's back was turned when Karolina had come into the room, but it didn't take her long to whirl around when she heard someone enter. Karolina averted her gaze, though. She couldn't look at her mother without wanting to cry or punch her in the face, and right now, she needed to focus on finding the person who had become most important to her.

"Karolina, you're home. I've been worried sick."

She was surprised when her mother's voice sounded like it always did. No malice or cruelty was present in her tone at all, only worry. Karolina had fully been expecting to come back to a completely different person. Where was the woman who killed people?

"Where's Nico?" Karolina asked the only question that would ever matter to her.

"I knew she was lying to me." Karolina detected a spark of anger in her mom's voice.

Banging sounded from the door of the supply closet, and both mother and daughter turned their heads to the source of the noise. Someone was being held in the supply closet.  _Nico?_

" _Release_ ," Leslie said, voice growing more impatient with each new word she said.

"Karolina!" Nico yelled the minute the door was open, and Karolina almost toppled over when the weight of Nico's body crashed into hers.

For a moment, she stood in stunned silence. Then she wrapped her arms tightly around Nico's back, shaking with the relief that Nico was right here in her embrace, that Nico was still  _alive_. The more time that had passed since Karolina had last seen Nico, the more she'd worried she would never see her again.

"There you are." Chase hurried into the room, looking slightly out of breath. "A little warning would be nice the next time you decide to dart off without me. Or, like, some directions at least."

It was clear he wasn't actually upset, though, especially after having seen the girl in Karolina's arms. Karolina was just about to respond that her directions might not have been extremely helpful had she given them to him considering she hadn't been able to see when she'd lived here, but her mother cut her off before she could.

"Oh, Karolina, can you see?" All traces of the irritation that had been building in Leslie's voice moments ago were gone. Karolina had turned to look directly at Chase when he'd spoken, giving herself away, she realized.

"Yeah, she can see." Nico finally pulled away from Karolina to stand protectively in front of her, even though she was completely powerless without the object that Leslie now held in her hand. "I used the Staff to give her sight back to her."

Leslie immediately rushed over to Karolina, completely ignoring Nico, and pulled her into her arms. Karolina had half a mind to rip the Staff of One from her grip right then and there, but she didn't. If she tried to grab it, Leslie would know how completely she'd turned on her, and Karolina didn't want to risk her mom blasting her away before she could get ahold of the Staff. She didn't want to show any signs of aggression yet. Right now, she only wanted answers.

"This must be so hard on you," Leslie said when she pulled away. "I know how difficult it was for you to adjust to life without sight. I'm sure it isn't easy to have to readjust all over again."

"I asked her to give me my sight back." Karolina took a step back from the woman in front of her. "Because I was afraid of you."

"What?"

Her mom looked taken aback, as if she couldn't even begin to fathom why anyone might be afraid of her. It almost made Karolina doubt herself and everything she and Nico thought they'd figured out, but she didn't. They had real, concrete proof. And Karolina trusted Nico.

"Besides," Karolina continued, "I wouldn't have had to  _readjust_ to anything at all in my life if you'd just given my sight back to me once I recovered."

Leslie opened her mouth to answer, but Karolina wasn't finished. "I know about everything now, Mom. I know about your oh-so-important Staff and how you kill people to be able to use it every year. I also know Dad was the first sacrifice."

Once Karolina was done speaking, the room devolved into silence. There were tears in her mom's eyes, and it was clear she didn't know how to respond. Karolina had caught her off guard. But Karolina wouldn't let her say nothing. Her mom owed her an explanation for everything, and so she would wait.

"Yes, yes, your father was the first sacrifice." Leslie sounded so broken as she spoke, a tear escaping from her eye, and Karolina was surprised. Since finding out the truth about her mother, she'd convinced herself the woman had never truly cared about anyone. But she'd cared about Karolina's dad, it seemed. It also seemed like she cared about Karolina herself. "I didn't kill him, though. The Staff took his life because he and I didn't offer it anyone else's."

"What were you even using the Staff for in the first place?"

"Money. Resources. Our own private plane to take us to and from our mission trips. The Staff made it easier for us to help people, allowed us to give more to them. I'd never seen your dad as happy as he was when we were able to provide people who'd lost everything with homes again. And not just the simple homes we used to. Homes with running water and electricity."

"A year later, the Staff took your dad's life." A sob broke past Leslie's lips, and Karolina had to blink several times to keep her own tears at bay as she thought of what had happened to her dad. "When I lost him, it felt like I had no more purpose in life. Everything I loved to do, he'd always done with me, and it didn't feel the same anymore. Then one night, you asked me why we never went on trips anymore, and that was the night I truly started thinking about the future of the Church again. I could still do good for the world because I still had you. I could teach you in the ways of the Church, and you and I could carry out the Church's mission together. A few months later, though, you got very, very sick."

"I got meningitis. I know." Karolina didn't need to hear, in great detail, about how ill she'd been. She didn't really remember it, and she preferred not to think about it.

"No." Leslie shook her head. "You were running incredibly high fevers, so I thought it was meningitis, but I was wrong. When I took you to the doctor, they said they'd never seen anything like it before, told me there was nothing they could do. That's when I knew it was the Staff. It killed Frank, and now it was going to kill you too. I was hysterical on our way home from the doctor's, so scared I was going to lose you at any moment. I carried you to bed, and you went right to sleep, and—"

"And then you killed someone." Karolina finished for her. "To save my life."

"It was Ellen. She came to talk to me right after I left your room. I took her to my office, and I panicked. It was you or her. So I chose her."

"How could you do that? My life isn't more important than hers. Or anyone's."

While Karolina understood, on some level, why her mother had done what she'd done, she didn't agree with it. Ellen had deserved to live as much as Karolina did. The sacrifices were like a punishment for using the Staff every year, and yet Leslie had continued to use it, even after she'd lost her husband. Karolina didn't understand why.

"Because I couldn't lose you too," Leslie answered. "Of course, I was distraught after I'd done it, but I hurried back to your room to check on you. And I feared I'd done it all for nothing. What if I killed her only to find you already dead? But I didn't. I ran into your room, and there you were, sitting up in bed, asking me why I was crying. It didn't occur to me what I must have looked like to anyone else, but it didn't matter right then. All that mattered was that you were alive."

An awful thought occurred to Karolina when she realized what Leslie had just said. "What do you mean, what you looked like? I couldn't see you."

Leslie gave Karolina a sympathetic look, and in that moment, all of Karolina's suspicions were confirmed before her mother even spoke them into existence. "Your illness never blinded you, sweetheart. I did. That very night."

The ground swayed beneath Karolina's feet. All this time, she thought she'd been blinded by pure chance, the randomness of the universe. But her loss of sight had never been an accident. Her mom had turned her whole world upside down on purpose.

"I know what you're thinking," Leslie said when Karolina didn't respond, "but I did what I had to do to protect you. To keep you close and safe so nothing could ever try to take you away from me again."

"You had the fucking Staff of One, Mom." Karolina felt boiling anger rising up inside of her. "Why didn't you use that to protect me?"

"The Staff can't bring back the dead, Karolina. What if something had happened to you out there? I would've never been able to forgive myself. The world is a dangerous place. Do you know how many school shootings there are these days?"

"That wasn't your choice to make, Mom. It's  _my_ life, and I deserved the chance to live it on my own terms." Hot tears rolled down Karolina's cheeks, but she ignored them. "You took everything away from me. You didn't let me go to school, have close friends. You barely even let me leave the Church at all. You made me believe that this was the safest place for me, that you were the one person I could trust more than anyone else, but really you were lying to me all along."

"I was protecting you," Leslie said. "I lost your father, my entire world, and I wasn't going to lose you too."

"What about my entire world?" Karolina hated the way her voice cracked. "You never even gave me the chance to find it."

"Because I couldn't chance you finding an end to it. But killing people was never easy for me. I knew it's what I had to do, but I could feel it eating away at me, destroying me. I wished the congregation would back me on it, but I knew they would never understand, so I forced them to participate and blocked the sacrifice out of their minds. They thought they were only participating in a cleansing of their spirits, but it still helped me to have all of them there."

"What about me? Why the hell didn't you ever block the sacrifices from my mind?"

"Because you needed to learn that sacrifices are okay so I can pass the Staff on to you one day. Even when you know it's the right thing to do, though, it's still so difficult. I see them at night sometimes, their faces."

"As you should," Karolina snapped. "Sacrificing people is not the right thing to do. Why didn't you just get rid of the goddamn Staff?"

"I couldn't." A wild frenzy sparked to life in her mother's eyes, and Karolina stumbled back a few steps. "I needed it to protect us. What if something happened to one of us? What if someone found out about what I've been doing, and I needed a memory wipe spell? What if you got sick again? I couldn't get rid of it. I  _can't_."

In that moment, Karolina finally saw her mother for who she truly was. She wasn't the kind and caring woman Karolina had always thought she was, but she wasn't a power-hungry, sociopathic killing machine either. She was a woman who needed help, a woman who'd lost her husband and had almost lost her daughter and hadn't been able to handle it. She'd needed to talk to someone about this a long time ago, but instead she'd trusted the Staff of One as her God to keep her and Karolina safe. Karolina almost felt bad for her for a moment.

The moment passed quickly, though. It didn't matter why Leslie had done the things she'd done. Killing people wasn't the answer. She'd chosen to handle things poorly instead of handling them the right way, and Karolina didn't think she could ever forgive her for that.

"It's not up to you to play God for us. If—"

"If you had the memory wipe spell, why didn't you use it on my sister?" Nico cut Karolina off, pushing her way in front of her. "Why did you  _kill_ her?"

"I wanted to wipe her memory." Leslie's eyes shimmered with hatred as she turned her gaze from her daughter to Nico. "When she stole the Staff from me and used its power to get away, I panicked. She used a disappearing spell, so I waited to be notified of the source of the Staff's magic when she reappeared, and I hurried to her destination. I arrived at your house to see her get in the car and leave, so I followed her and hit her car with mine. I planned on stealing the Staff back and wiping her memory clean, but she didn't have the Staff, and I had no idea what she'd done with it. My only choice was to kill her before she got the chance to tell anyone else about it."

"But she did tell someone else," Nico said. "She told me."

Leslie gave her a mock sympathetic look. "So you'll forgive me for what I have to do next."

She raised the Staff as if to cast a spell, but Nico lunged for her before she could even say a single word. She aimed a punch at Leslie's face, but the woman easily dodged it and trained the Staff on Nico once more. Before she could do anything, though, Chase blasted her with the Fistagons. While she was distracted blocking his attack, Nico got her punch in and smiled smugly.

"Nico, move," Karolina shouted. She knew her mother wasn't going to react well to that hit, so she needed to do something to get her mom's attention on her and away from her girlfriend.

As Nico rolled out of the way, Karolina threw up her hands, shooting beams of light so brilliant and colorful they lit up the entire room. Chase and Nico shielded their eyes, and Karolina hoped she was incinerating her mother into dust before the woman could try to hurt anyone else.

When Karolina lowered her hands again, though, her mother was still standing just as she had been before, unharmed. Well, physically, at least.

She had a wounded look in her eyes as she stepped closer to her daughter. "Karolina, how could you?"

But that wasn't going to work on Karolina. Not anymore. "How could  _you_?"

Tears brimmed in the corners of Leslie's eyes, but she didn't say anything. There was nothing she could say to defend herself anymore. It seemed she knew that now as well as anyone in this room.

She sniffled and then shot a spell at Chase that he easily dodged. It seemed she was finally realizing that Karolina, Nico, and Chase weren't going to let her get out of this without a fight.

"Enough," Karolina said, launching another attack on her mother.

Leslie dodged the wall of light and shot a spell at Karolina, but Karolina shot up into the air before it could even get near her. As she'd hoped, Leslie followed her, successfully distracted from the other two on the ground.

"Stop this, Karolina," she said.

But Karolina ignored her. She shot beam of light after beam of light, but her mother blocked her every time. She tried to fly around to her mother's back to catch her off guard, but Leslie easily dodged her. Karolina was losing her patience. Things might not have gone according to plan, but Karolina was plenty powerful. She needed to end this.

Flying straight for her mother, Karolina landed a clearly unexpected blow to her face, successfully disorienting the woman. Making a quick grab for the Staff, she hoped to wrench it from her mother's grasp so she and Nico would have the upper hand again, but her mom was quicker. She threw Karolina backward with a blast of light, and Karolina grunted as she slammed hard into the wall behind her.

Pain radiated throughout her body, and she felt herself begin to fall, but she shook off her daze and stopped her descent before she could hit the ground. She didn't miss the worried look her mom quickly wiped from her face as Karolina launched another attack. She'd been scared she might have seriously injured Karolina. She didn't want to hurt her. That was her weakness.

Before Karolina could even try to figure out a way to use that weakness to her advantage, a blast of lightning shot up and threw Leslie backwards, sending her toppling to the ground. Karolina was surprised but only for a moment. Chase.

"Got her." Chase grinned in satisfaction.

Karolina landed beside him with a wide smile, wishing she could high five him but not wanting to risk doing so while he was wearing those gloves. They barely had a moment of shared excitement, though, before her mother was rolling over on the ground and pulling herself back onto her feet.

_Is my mom secretly invincible?_

Karolina raised her hands up, ready to protect herself and Chase with a shield, but her mother never turned her way. She only had eyes for Nico, who had seemingly run to get the Staff the minute Leslie was down. It was clear she hadn't succeeded.

Nico scrambled backward a few paces, trying to put as much distance between her and Leslie as she could, but it didn't matter, because Leslie was already raising the Staff.

"This is all your fault," she snarled.

A purple electric cloud shot out of the Staff of One and headed straight for Nico. Karolina had no idea what it would do when it hit her, but she didn't want to find out.

She knew this was the moment in stories where time would slow down for the protagonist, where he or she would have some sort of internal monologue about what decision he or she should make. It didn't work that way for Karolina, though. She threw herself in front of Nico before she even had a second to consider it. The only thing she knew, as she took the full force of the spell, was that she didn't want to lose Nico.

Searing pain arced through her body a second later, and her knees buckled, sending her crashing to the ground as Nico screamed her name behind her.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays everyone! Enjoy!

As Nico watched a spell shoot from the Staff of One right at her, she immediately made peace with the realization that she was about to get hit. If Leslie was going to hurt someone, she would much rather it be her than Chase or Karolina. She was the one who had gotten them into this mess, who had decided to go against their plan without even discussing it with anyone first, and she would much rather sacrifice herself than allow Leslie to take out any of her friends.

When a flash of rainbow shot in front of her, she almost didn't register it at first. Then the light died as the body in front of Nico absorbed the spell, and Karolina fell to the ground. In that moment, all Nico could do was scream, louder than she ever had in her life.

The next moment, she was on the ground beside the girl she loved, pulling her into her arms. Intense fear radiated throughout her. Karolina's body was convulsing violently as tears streaked down her face. What if this was it? What if Karolina was dying, and there was nothing Nico could do to help her?

"Nico," Karolina managed to choke out, voice laced with pain.

"I've got you, Karo," she said, tears falling from her own eyes, but she didn't know what else to do.

This was her worst nightmare, seeing Karolina in pain and knowing she was the cause of it. This was what she had been trying to prevent by going to the Church of Gibborim on her own. But she had failed.

If she had just stuck to the plan, they would all be so much better off right now. Even if Leslie had cornered them outside of the school, she would have had to take on five people at once. They would have still had the Staff of One. Maybe no one would have gotten hurt at all.

Wishing she'd done things differently, though, wasn't going to help Nico. The only thing that could help her was the very woman who had created the spell in the first place. She was crying, and she looked frantic, but she wasn't making a single move to help.

"Leslie, give me the Staff," Nico shouted.

"No," Leslie argued. "I can save her.  _Heal_."

Nothing happened. Clearly, Leslie had already used that spell before, and now it seemed she was blanking to think of another one.

"Please give it to me," Nico said. "Do you really want your daughter to die?"

The answer was clear on her face and in her body language. She didn't want her to daughter to die, but she wasn't going to let anyone else be the one to save her. If Leslie didn't think of a spell fast, there was a very real possibility that they might lose Karolina, and Nico would never be able to live with herself if she lost another person she cared about.

That was when she heard a dog bark, a sound so strange within the Church of Gibborim that Nico thought perhaps she herself had already died. Perhaps Leslie had killed her when she'd hit her outside the school, and everything that had happened since had been one long nightmare.

A black Labrador jetted into the room and launched itself at Leslie, sinking its teeth into her arm as it knocked her to the ground. Leslie screamed, but Nico only had eyes for the Staff of One, which clattered to the ground a few feet away from her.

The dog looked up at Nico as it let go, and a surge of hope shot through her chest. Old Lace.

"That a girl." Nico turned to see Gert standing in the doorway, a satisfied smile on her face. She didn't have time for pleasantries, though. She could feel Karolina going limp in her arms, and she knew they didn't have much time left.

"The Staff!" She pointed to the object lying on the ground.

In a flash, Leslie sprang from the floor, hurrying over to her most prized possession, but Molly, whom Nico hadn't even seen come in, was a split second faster. She grabbed the Staff in her hands and held it out threateningly, Old Lace growling beside her. "Not another step."

Nico fully expected Leslie to put up a fight, especially since Molly had never used the Staff before, but Leslie didn't know that, and it seemed she wasn't willing to risk it. She stood down, and Molly walked over to Nico, holding the Staff out for her to take.

"I think this belongs to you."

Nico quickly grabbed the object, and Molly's triumphant grin fell when she realized how pale Karolina looked. She was getting weaker, and Nico needed to think of a way to stop this before it was too late.

After quickly looking up to see Chase, Gert, and Old Lace guarding Leslie, Nico turned her attention back to the girl in her arms. She couldn't use a basic heal spell, so what could she say? Her mind, like Leslie's, was blanking at the very moment it couldn't afford to.

"Karolina, what's hurting you?" If Nico could pinpoint the area of pain, she could use a more specific healing spell or at least have something to go off of.

"Everything." It came out as a barely-there whisper.

There was no time for thinking now. Every time Nico had used the Staff before, she had channeled its energy and said the first thing that came to mind. She closed her eyes, focusing on nothing but the energy of the Staff vibrating in her hand, and said, " _Good as new._ "

Karolina's body immediately went slack, all the tremors stopping, and Nico was afraid, for one horrible moment, that her spell hadn't worked. A second later, though, Karolina let out a sigh of relief, and Nico watched as her skin lit up in a rainbow glow, dim at first but growing brighter.

Nico couldn't stop her sobs from finally escaping as she held Karolina close to her chest, and she smiled when she felt her girlfriend's arms wrap around her back. Nico rocked them back and forth for what felt like hours but was probably only minutes. She never wanted to let go of Karolina again.

"It's okay, Karo," Nico whispered into rainbow-colored hair, pressing a soft kiss there. "Everything's finally over."

* * *

"We need to call the police." Gert's statement finally drew Nico's attention away from the girl in her arms and back to her friends. The three of them were standing around Leslie like a fortress, but it was clear in the woman's eyes that she wanted to escape.

" _Straitjacket. Chain to wall_." Nico grabbed the Staff and spoke two spells in quick succession, watching as a straitjacket appeared on Leslie's torso and manacles clasped around her ankles, chaining her to the wall.

"Stop," Leslie screamed. "This isn't right!"

Nico and her friends ignored her. This was exactly right. What hadn't been right was Leslie controlling every aspect of her daughter's life for the past sixteen years, blinding her to make sure she relied on and trusted her mother. Nico wanted to make sure Karolina never had anything taken away from her again. Every choice would be hers. And Gert was right. They needed to call the police.

"You still have the flash drive?" Chase asked Nico.

"It's in my backpack." Nico pointed to the supply closet, where her backpack still lay forgotten.

Nico hoped Leslie hadn't taken the time to search her bag for anything else that might have seemed suspicious. Even if she had, though, Nico realized, Leslie probably wouldn't have given the drive a second glance. There was nothing out of the ordinary about a flash drive in a high school student's backpack.

Nico made no move to grab the drive, unwilling to let go of Karolina for even a few seconds, and Chase seemed to understand that, heading into the closet himself to begin rooting around in Nico's bag.

Gert pulled out her phone to dial the police, taking Chase and Nico's desire to grab the flash drive as answer enough, but Molly put a hand on her arm to stop her. "Wait. Karolina, are you okay with this?"

"Yes." Karolina lifted her head from Nico's shoulder. "My mom deserves to rot in jail for the rest of her life."

Molly then nodded to Gert, and Gert dialed 911, talking to the police a moment later.

Leslie screamed and began thrashing on the floor, desperately trying to escape her temporary prison before the cops arrived to take her to her permanent one. Nico knew it would never work, though, so she paid her no mind. Until Leslie's entire body began to light up white. Nico didn't know what she intended to do, if she even could do anything without her hands being free, but she wasn't going to take the time to find out.

" _Powerless,_ " Nico said, and Leslie's lights instantly died.

It was clear Leslie was trying to light up again, but she couldn't, and Nico realized in that moment that it had been as easy for her to take away those powers as it had been for Leslie to give them to herself. She had given herself a watch to track the Staff's location and powers to protect herself. Leslie and Karolina weren't inhuman after all. The Staff of One was responsible for everything they could do. Which reminded Nico. Karolina's powers weren't the only thing the Staff was responsible for.

"You feeling better, Karo?" Nico asked the girl in her arms.

"Much better." Karolina finally pulled back and sat up, looking fine albeit tired.

Nico smiled at the joy and relief that she saw in the blue eyes looking back at her, and she found herself wishing it could last forever. That this moment could last forever. But she knew she had to break it. Karolina deserved as much time as possible to make the decision she would have to make.

"Karolina, I have to tell you something." Nico tried not to notice Karolina's smile fall away at the sound of her full name. "When the cops get here, they're not just going to take your mom away. They'll take the Staff of One too. So if you want me to cast any other spells with it, it has to be now."

Realization spread across Karolina's face as she understood what Nico was asking her, and her brow furrowed. "That's a big decision to make in a couple of minutes."

"You'll probably have about ten or fifteen minutes." Nico combed her fingers through hair that was becoming blonder by the second. "You don't have to decide until the moment we hear those sirens if you don't want to."

Devolving into silence once more, Nico kept up her soothing motions, beginning to rub up and down Karolina's arm with her other hand. She wanted the blonde to feel like she had all the time in the world to decide. She also wanted her to know that she didn't care what she chose.

"No matter what you choose, I will always love you, Karo. More than anything."

Unsure blue eyes focused on brown ones once more. "Even if I can't see? That won't make things harder for us?"

"Of course not." Nico shook her head adamantly. "I'll love you even if you can never see a single thing again."

"I want to be blind," Karolina admitted.

In the moment before she'd said it, Nico had known it was what she would choose. She'd suspected it from the moment she even thought to ask the question.

Over the past few days, Nico had noticed time and again how much Karolina relied predominantly on her other senses, even when she could see. Nico had even felt much better sparring with Karolina yesterday when she'd her eyes closed. Karolina experienced the world differently than Nico did, and Nico understood why she didn't want to permanently change that. Being blind was as much a part of Karolina as her compassion. She hadn't seemed completely herself since Nico had given her sight back to her.

"Are you sure?" Nico had to ask.

This wasn't a decision to be taken lightly, and she wanted to make sure Karolina had fully thought this through before she actually did anything about it.

In response, Karolina only nodded before pulling Nico into a searing kiss. Karolina straddled Nico's lap and pulled her as close as she could, cupping her face while Nico brought her own hand up to grasp the back of Karolina's head.

If Karolina's certainty hadn't been conveyed in that kiss, her words afterward left no room for argument.

"Do it." Karolina's blue gaze was steely and determined as she met Nico's directly for the last time.

Nico didn't hesitate to grab the Staff from where she had placed it on the ground beside her. " _See no more_."

For a moment, Nico couldn't tell if the spell had even worked. Karolina didn't have any sort of visible reaction, and her eyes were still looking directly into Nico's.

"Did it work?" Nico felt silly for asking, but she needed to make sure before the cops arrived.

"Yeah, it worked." Karolina smiled.

A smile broke out on Nico's own face at the news, and she was about to lean up and kiss Karolina again when Gert walked over, phone in hand, looking as if she had just gotten off with the police.

"What the hell did you just do?" she asked.

"I think she just blinded Karolina again," Molly said from where she stood beside Old Lace, looking equal parts confused and outraged.

"It's what she wanted." Nico rolled her eyes at her friends. "Do you honestly think I would cast a spell like that on her without her permission?"

"I asked her to," Karolina confirmed. "Nico reminded me that the cops will probably take the Staff away when they get here. And I…wanted to be blind again before that happens."

Nico watched as Chase, who was now holding the flash drive in his hand, opened his mouth to respond, but Leslie interrupted him from her place on the floor. "I knew she would choose what's best for her. She wants to come home, so why don't you all just leave her alone?"

Everyone's faces contorted with annoyance or anger at the sound of Leslie's voice, but Karolina's eyes filled with full blown rage, and Nico could tell she'd had enough. Karolina was on her feet in an instant, making her way expertly over to where she knew her mom lay.

" _They_ are not the ones who need to leave me alone." Karolina seethed. "I don't want anything more to do with you. My choosing to be blind again does nothing to change that. I would've  _never_ chosen this at age five, and you had no right to do what you did. This is who I am now, though, and I like the person I've become, despite everything. Because Nico came into my life and taught me that I can do anything she can do, anything I  _want_ to do. Being blind isn't a disability. Not to me."

"I know I've made some mistakes in the past, but I said I'd let you go to school." Leslie tried to defend herself, but even she had to know by now it wasn't going to work. "You can have friends or even keep the ones you have now. I—"

Karolina turned and walked away from her mother, clearly no longer listening to a word the woman said. She'd said what she needed to say. She didn't owe it to her mother to listen to her any longer.

"Nico?"

"Over here, Karo," Nico answered, allowing Karolina to hear where she was.

Nico was proud of Karolina for everything she'd said, everything she'd done in the last half hour or so. She knew how much Karolina's mother had meant to her in the past. Watching her stand up for herself today was incredible to say the least.

The minute Karolina reached her side, Nico grabbed her hand and intwined their fingers. There was so much she wanted to say to Karolina; she wanted to tell her how proud she was of her, how beautiful she looked in that moment, but Karolina was surrounded by Nico's friends hugging her and congratulating her on the way she fought today before Nico could even open her mouth. Nico found she was content to watch as a dazzling smile spread across Karolina's face at everyone's praise.

"So Karolina, why don't you want to keep your sight?" Chase asked when the commotion died down a bit. "I mean, your mom took it from you unfairly, and you didn't deserve—" Gert elbowed Chase in the side, effectively cutting him off as she glared at him. "I'm getting the sense that my question was insensitive, so please feel free to ignore it."

"You're okay." Karolina laughed, and Nico smiled at the sound. "I may have spent a lot of time when I was younger wishing I could see like the other kids, but the truth is that I don't want to be anyone other than who I am. I  _like_ being blind, prefer it actually. Being able to see for the past couple of days has proven that to me. I don't need to see to be able to do the things I want to do. I guess I'm just more comfortable experiencing the world through touch and sound now."

"But won't it be harder for you?" Chase asked.

"Maybe a little bit." Karolina shrugged. "But it's the only way I'll feel like myself."

"That…actually makes a lot of sense." Chase nodded.

Sirens sounded in the distance, and Nico realized that this was the moment she was finally going to be able to talk about what had been going on in her life these past few months. She'd been keeping it a secret for so long that she didn't even know if she'd be able to tell her story if she tried, but she had to. She knew she had to tell the complete truth if she wanted to finally get justice for Amy, for Karolina, for each and every one of the kids who'd been sacrificed.

"Where's Karolina's bracelet?" Nico asked. "We don't want the cops thinking she's the threat when they get in here."

"I've got it." Chase pulled the bracelet from his pocket and handed it to Nico.

"I can control my glow, you know." Karolina killed her lights, but Nico still reached out to clasp the bracelet firmly around her wrist.

"I know. But I also know that your glow is linked to your emotions, and it's probably best not to reveal your powers to the police before we have to."

Karolina nodded, and Nico wondered how much time they had left before the police got to their location, wondered if she should even broach the thought that just popped into her mind at all or if she should just let it lie. She knew she needed to ask the question, though. It was Karolina's decision after all, and Nico wouldn't take it away from her.

"Actually, Karo. I think we both know by now that your mom lied to you about your powers all this time because she didn't want you to know she gave them to you with the Staff. Do you even want to keep them?"

"Yeah." Karolina nodded, frowning for a moment as she realized the truth in Nico's statement. Her features smoothed out after a few seconds, though, and she brought her and Nico's conjoined hands up to press a kiss to the back of Nico's. "I want to keep them."


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the last chapter of this fic! I always have a hard time ending things, so it's not my favorite chapter, but I hope you still like it! Thank you to everyone who has left kudos and comments on this fic and even all of you who have just read it and been along for the ride. I appreciate each and every one of you so much. Nothing makes me happier than writing, so it's always such a good experience sharing my work with the rest of the fandom. 
> 
> Also, I'm thinking of doing a short epilogue for this story set one month later to show a little bit of where Karolina and Nico are at. If anyone would be interested in reading that, please let me know in the comments, and I'll get it up in the next few days :)

Once the cops arrived, everything happened in a whirlwind. The five kids recounted their story, all of it, and then they were questioned at the police station one by one. Nico had wanted to stay with Karolina at first, not wanting her to be afraid, but she reassured Nico that she would be fine.

By the time Nico finished talking to the police, it seemed her friends had long since been done, but they were all still sitting in the waiting room when she was led out. It appeared none of them had wanted to leave without making sure Nico was okay, and she was grateful to them for that.

She didn't have a chance to talk to any of them, though, because her parents were stepping forward and enveloping her in a tight family hug before she could. Nico returned the hug with just as much force. Today, she'd considered the possibility that she might never see her parents again more times than she'd like to admit. She was incredibly relieved to have proven herself wrong.

"We had to hear from the cops about everything you've been getting up to these past couple of months." Tina had tears running down her face. "Why didn't you ever tell us about any of this?"

"Because I couldn't risk you stopping me," Nico said. "I understand why you wouldn't want me mixed up in any of this, but I had to see this through. For Amy. Especially once I'd figured out the real reason she was killed."

"And that was…because she was sneaking into the Church of Gibborim?" Robert looked confused, and it became clear to Nico that whatever the cops had told her parents must have been a very condensed version.

"She found out that Leslie was murdering teenagers to fuel up this magic Staff that she got from some man on a mission trip, and Amy was trying to stop it," Nico explained.

"How do you know that?" Robert asked.

"She had a list of names written on her mirror in invisible ink. Names of all the kids who'd ever gone missing from the Church."

"Why didn't you tell us about this?" Tina asked again. "We could've gotten help. We could've taken care of this on our own."

"Believe me, it was much safer the way I did it, Mom. We didn't know if we could trust the police without foolproof evidence, and we couldn't get that without sneaking into the Church exactly the way we did. Besides, I had someone on the inside letting me in every night."

"Who?" Tina still looked upset, but Nico could tell she was interested by the arch of her brow.

"Karolina," Nico admitted. "That story about her being a girl in my class might have been a bit of a lie. She's actually Leslie Dean's daughter. Karolina Dean."

"Ah, so gathering evidence isn't all you've been up to over at that Church then, huh?" Robert winked, and Nico blushed.

"Yeah, so, uh, I might have found that Leslie's daughter wasn't as bad as I thought she would be. I, uh, she's been helping me a lot these past few months. She helped me look for information, even when she didn't believe anything was wrong. And I helped her when she found out the truth about her mother. That's why I wanted her to stay with us these past two nights. I didn't want her mom to figure out what she knew and hurt her."

"You know I don't approve of lying." Tina's face was stern for a few more seconds before breaking out into a relieved smile. "But I'm just glad you're all right."

Nico smiled as well. A door opened from somewhere behind her, and she turned to see Karolina finally being guided out of the room where she had been questioned. Nico was by her side in an instant, pulling her into a hug.

"Are you okay, Karo?"

"Fine." Karolina smiled reassuringly. "It feels so good to have all of that out in the open now."

"Same here." Nico sighed. "So what happens now? What did the cop say?"

Karolina's smile fell away. "He said…my mom is going to jail for a really long time. Which is good. Of course it's good. So he told me I have two options. I can go into foster care until I turn eighteen, or I can try to be emancipated and live on my own."

"And what do you want?"

"Well, I can't live on my own, can I?"

Nico grabbed Karolina's hand and squeezed it. "You can do anything you want to do."

"But I can't drive," Karolina pointed out.

"I'd be happy to drive you anywhere you need to go," Nico answered immediately, but she could tell by the look on Karolina's face that she was still conflicted about it. "But you don't have to decide anything right now. I'm sure my parents will let you stay with us until you figure everything out."

Karolina relaxed almost instantly, the tension leaving her body when she realized she didn't have to make any kind of decision right then. "Will that be okay?"

"I think so." Nico squeezed Karolina's hand again as she led her over to where her parents still stood, watching them.

"So I realize I still have a lot of explaining to do," Nico said to her parents, "and I will try to do as much of it as I can."

Nico told her parents everything. How Leslie had come into contact with the Staff, how she'd started using it, how it killed her husband and almost took her daughter too, how Leslie had then blinded Karolina to keep her safe from any potential harm. She told her parents how Amy had stolen the Staff the night she died, how she'd given it to Nico, how she was killed for it. She explained how she and Karolina had found the file on Leslie's computer, how Nico had given Karolina her sight back once they left the Church, how they defeated Leslie that afternoon, how Karolina felt most comfortable being blind again. She told them everything, and she ended with this:

"Can Karolina stay with us now? Just for a little while? She has nowhere else to go."

Her parents exchanged a glance, but they stayed silent. Nico knew they were conversing without words, trying to mull the thought over before giving their daughter any sort of answer. Nico couldn't stand the waiting, but she also knew she needed to give them time. It was a lot to ask of anyone.

The longer they stayed quiet, the more Nico feared they were going to say no. What would happen to Karolina if she didn't have anywhere to stay in the upcoming days? Would they put her into foster care anyway? Where? What would that mean for her and Nico?

"What about school?" Robert finally broke the silence. "If she's going to be staying with us for a while, we need to make sure she doesn't miss out on her schooling. Where do you go to school, Karolina?"

Nico hadn't even thought about Karolina going to school, but the fact that her dad was asking about it meant that her parents were actually considering allowing Karolina to stay with them. All Nico could do was smile at the realization.

"I don't go to school," Karolina answered. "I'm homeschooled."

"Okay." Robert nodded. "Do you have your teacher's number, so we can get into contact with him, or her?"

"Actually, can I go to Nico's school?"

"My school?" Nico turned to her girlfriend in surprise. "There's no other blind kids there. I thought you wanted to be around more people like you."

"You guys are people like me," Karolina said easily. "I just want to be around my friends."

A wide smile spread across Nico's face at Karolina's words, and her happiness was matched in Karolina's blue eyes. Karolina's eyes no longer met Nico's directly, but Nico liked it that way, preferred it even.

"The school will probably want you to go in and learn the layout of the building before you attend, but we'll get you started there as soon as we can," Tina said.

"Does this mean…?" Nico couldn't say it out loud, afraid it would ruin her chances of her parents agreeing to let Karolina live with them, even though they had basically already agreed to it.

Her parents shared one last look before her dad responded with a smile. "Yes, she can stay with us."

"Thank you." Nico enveloped her parents in the biggest hug she thought she'd ever given to them, and they returned it with equal vigor.

This hug meant that Nico was well and truly safe, that her friends were safe, that  _Karolina_ was safe, and that none of them would be going anywhere. This hug meant that everything was, as Nico had told Karolina at the Church, well and truly over.

"Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Minoru," Karolina said once Nico pulled away.

"It's not a problem, sweetheart," Robert said with a smile.

"Let's get you two home," Tina said. "I know it's been a long day."

Nico cast a glance over her mom's shoulder at her friends who were still gathered with their own families, almost as if they were waiting for her. And maybe they were. As nice it would be to go home and collapse into her bed with Karolina, after everything that had happened today, Nico wanted nothing more than to spend the remainder of it—or at least the next couple of hours—with the people who'd gone through it with her.

"Actually, Mom, could I go out with my friends?" Nico asked. "I know it's been a long day and you probably have a million different questions for me, but I feel like I need to spend some time with them now that all of this is over. I promise we won't do anything dangerous."

"Ever again?" Tina shot Nico a knowing look.

"I can't promise that," Nico said with a mischievous smile, "but I can promise to always tell you about it from here on out."

"I suppose that's all I can ask," Tina said with a smile. "You can go out with your friends for a couple of hours, but please be home for dinner and make sure to take care of Karolina."

Warmth surged through Nico's chest at Tina's motherly instincts already being extended toward Karolina, even if she didn't quite get that Karolina didn't need looking after.

"Karolina can take care of herself," Nico responded. "Especially when she's glowing."

Tina's eyebrows shot up in surprise, but Nico only laughed. "I'll explain everything to you when I get home."

It wasn't hard for Nico to collect Chase from his mom, and even though Dale and Stacey were reluctant to let Gert and Molly out of their sights ever again, Nico and Karolina managed to pull them away eventually, followed by a chorus of "We love you," and "Be safe."

Once outside, Nico felt a lot better. There were so many people packed into the small waiting room of the police station that she was starting to feel claustrophobic. Not to mention, the worry from the five parents in there was so stifling, it was like something tangible to Nico. She was happy to be out of there, the only things she could feel now being the blowing of the breeze and Karolina's hand wrapped around her arm.

"I can't believe it's really over." Molly was the first one to break the silence as they walked to where their cars were parked in the back of the lot.

It seemed everyone else had either been enjoying the peace that came with getting out of that building, as Nico had, or had been just too caught up in their own thoughts to say anything.

"None of us can, Molls." Gert placed a gentle hand on her sister's arm.

"It felt like we were caught up in that a lot longer than two months," Chase said.

"It's weird that we can actually talk about it with other people," Nico said. "We've been keeping it a secret for so long, and now it's about to be public knowledge."

"I can't believe I told the cops about my powers," Karolina said. "I've had them since I was seven years old, and I haven't told a single person other than you guys about them until now. Ever. It's crazy."

"What's crazy is that the cops let you keep them," Chase said.

"I think they just felt bad for me," Karolina admitted, "thought I've been through enough. To be fair, though, I only told them I can fly, and my skin lights up. I didn't tell them about what else I can do."

"And there's no way they can possibly find out." Gert looked impressed.

"Unless I use my other powers," Karolina pointed out, "which I don't intend to do. I don't want to use my powers for anything other than good."

"I know, Karo." Nico turned to face her once they reached Gert and Chase's cars. "Are you okay, though? After everything that happened?"

"I will be." Karolina nodded. "I'm not going to lie and say it wasn't hard to hear everything my mom had to say today. But I'm also trying not to be too upset over things I can't change. What my mom's done is awful, and she deserves to go to jail for the rest of her life."

"She probably will." Nico squeezed Karolina's arm.

"I just wish I had questioned her sooner. I should've never gone along with the things she taught me. I mean, I always thought she was a hero, but I couldn't have been more wrong."

"Your mom may not have been a hero, but your dad was, okay? He helped a lot of people during his life, including you, and you can choose to be like him. You don't have to be anything like your mom."

"She's right," Molly said. "Your mom might not be the person you thought she was, but that doesn't mean you're going to turn out like her. You're nothing like your mom, Karolina."

"Thanks, Molly." Karolina's face broke out in a wide grin, and Nico was so pleased to see it. She knew Karolina had been lonely throughout the majority of her life, especially recently, and Nico could not be more grateful to the people in her life for welcoming Karolina into their lives so easily.

For a brief moment, Nico wondered what Amy would have thought of Karolina, but she didn't dwell on it for too long. Amy would've loved Karolina because she was important to Nico.

"Maybe you could take over the Church in her stead," Gert suggested. "You could use it as a platform to do good for the world."

"Nico said the same thing." Karolina nodded slowly, and Nico was surprised to see that she appeared to actually be considering it. "I could turn the Church back into what it had been before my dad died. We can focus on helping people, actively doing things, instead of just worshipping. Maybe we could even go on mission trips again, and you guys could come too."

The excitement in Karolina's eyes was palpable, and while Nico had never been very religious, she had to admit that helping people would be rewarding work. "That sounds amazing, Karo. I'd love to."

"Count me in for sure," Gert said, and Nico smiled. She knew her friend had a soft spot for the disenfranchised. Mission trip work would be right up her alley.

"Sounds nice," Chase said.

"Definitely," Molly agreed.

"Are you okay, though, Nico?" Chase asked. "You finally found out about what happened to Amy. I know it wasn't what you wanted to hear."

"I'm actually glad Amy wasn't hit by a drunk driver," Nico admitted. "I don't think I could live with knowing that Amy's death was nothing but an accident. At least I know now that she died for a reason, to save any more kids from being sacrificed. She died a hero. And we finished what she started."

Saying those words felt like Nico was releasing all of her pent-up bitterness, anger, and loneliness, which had been present inside of her since Amy had died, into the air around her. She would always miss her sister, but she could rest a lot easier now that she knew the truth, that Amy had died trying to save other kids like her. Nico also felt good knowing that Amy's killer was going to jail for the rest of her life, and Nico was the one who had brought her to justice.

"What about you guys?" Nico turned to her three friends. "None of you would've even gotten mixed up in any of this if it weren't for me, and I'm sorry for all of it."

"Don't be all heroic." Gert crossed her arms. "We're all okay, you and Karolina included, because we had each other and we took Leslie down  _together_. We wouldn't have let you do any of this alone for the world. Ever."

"Exactly." Chase smiled, taking his girlfriend's hand in his.

"We're all okay, and that's great, but is there any way we can go get something to eat and continue talking there?" Molly asked. "Because I'm starving."

"How about we go to that frozen yogurt place we always used to hang out at in middle school?" Chase suggested. "In honor of Amy."

Nico smiled and nodded. It almost felt wrong to think about going back there and making new memories there that Amy would never be a part of. But Nico also knew that it was exactly what Amy would've wanted. She would've suggested the same thing, had she been here, so Nico supposed that going back there now would actually be perfect.

In honor of Amy.


	25. epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again. So I decided to go through with writing a short little epilogue for this story featuring our favorite couple! Thanks again to everyone who has read and left kudos and comments on this story. I really appreciate all of you, and I'm so happy you all stuck around for the ride. For anyone who's interested, I do have one other Deanoru story on here that I'm working on, a dance AU, so feel free to check that out if you want to.
> 
> Enjoy the final installment of like a bird set free!

One month later

"Nico, have you seen my hairbrush?" Karolina called from the bedroom.

The two of them had slept through their alarm that morning and were consequently running late for school. To make matters worse, Karolina had felt along the length of both of Nico's dressers and her desk to no avail, and she officially had no idea where she could've possibly placed her hairbrush. It had definitely been in here last night.

When Nico didn't respond, Karolina hurried out into the hallway, stopping herself just in time before she crashed into the end table against the left wall that housed some kind of expensive vase. She always stayed lit up around the house to avoid any sort of accidents like the one that had almost just occurred.

Upon reaching the bathroom, Karolina knocked on the door. She could hear the hum of the fan from inside, and she realized that Nico hadn't responded because she hadn't heard Karolina shout.

"Who is it?" Nico asked.

"It's Karolina."

Nico's response came in the form of the lock clicking and the door being opened so Karolina could step through.

"Will you help me find my hairbrush?" she asked.

"I have it in here." Nico grabbed Karolina's hand before pressing the brush into her palm. "Sorry. I left mine at Gert's house."

Two nights ago, Nico had stayed the night at Gert's house, but Karolina had stayed home to study for a Spanish test she had the next day. She'd been afraid it would be awkward spending the night with Nico's parents without Nico, but she shouldn't have worried. Nico's parents had been nothing but welcoming since they'd met Karolina.

"It's fine. Thanks." Karolina gave Nico a quick peck on the lips before scurrying back down the hallway to finish getting ready.

When they were finally ready to leave, Karolina followed Nico in the living room to say a quick goodbye to her parents. Karolina was surprised at first by how much the Minoru parents already seemed to care about her, but she supposed she shouldn't have what with the immense love they so clearly had for their daughter.

"Did you finish that history project you were working on last night?" Tina asked her daughter before she could turn to walk out the door.

"Yes, Mom." The sound of Nico's voice told Karolina that she was probably playfully rolling her eyes.

"And are you wearing your bracelet, Karolina?" Robert asked.

Karolina held up her wrist to show him her bracelet was intact. He'd taken to asking her that question every morning after she'd tried to sneak out without her bracelet once during her first week of school, trying to trick Robert and Tina by killing her glow.

It had been hard for Karolina to get around school at first, as she wasn't used to the layout, but that was before she'd had time to familiarize herself with it and before she'd gotten a white cane to help her be more aware of her immediate surroundings. Now she was comfortable enough to walk around on her own, without Nico or any of her friends sticking around to guide her.

"Okay." Robert laughed at whatever pouting face Karolina was most likely making. "You two have a good day at school."

"And don't forget to text me when you get there," Tina called after them as they headed out to the car.

That was another thing. Nico's parents had finally gotten their daughter her own car to drive to school every day. Karolina suspected it had something to do with not wanting to hold Nico back from doing anything she wanted to after they'd seen what Karolina's own mother had done to her, but she didn't say anything about it. Perhaps she was wrong, and Robert just got tired of having to take Nico back and forth every day.

Karolina checked her phone for the time as they walked outside.

"7:35 AM," it read out to her.

"We'll make it in plenty of time," Nico assured Karolina.

"Really?" Karolina climbed into the passenger seat as Nico got into the driver's seat beside her. "Nico, it takes us fifteen minutes to get there."

"Okay, so we might have to walk fast to get to class on time," Nico admitted, "but don't worry. I'll still walk you to your first class."

"I'm perfectly capable of getting to class on my own," Karolina gently reminded her.

"You know that's not why I do it," Nico said. "I can't start the school day without my morning kiss. It's like my version of everyone else's coffee."

Karolina laughed. "We've already kissed plenty of tines this morning."

"It's not the same."

"You can have your morning kiss right now."

Karolina reached for Nico's face and brought their lips together, smiling into the kiss. After a couple seconds, she tried to pull back, but Nico gripped the back of her head to keep her in place, and Karolina felt all of the fight drain out of her.

She allowed Nico to turn her head, deepening the kiss, and she pulled Nico closer, opening her mouth to accept Nico's tongue as she lost herself in the kiss for several long moments.

When she finally came to her senses again, Karolina pulled back, ignoring Nico's disapproving whine at the loss of contact.

"What time is it now?"

Nico was silent for a few seconds as she presumably checked her phone.

"7:38."

"Nicooo," Karolina whined.

"We can still make it." Karolina felt the car begin to move as Nico pulled out of the driveway.

"Sure, we can." Karolina tried to sound annoyed, but she was having a hard time fighting off the smile that was threatening to break through.

"I'm still walking you to class, you know," Nico said.

"I know." Karolina couldn't help but smile.

As Nico shifted the car into forward motion and they sped off in the direction of their school, Karolina realized she wasn't really all that worried about being late. Because, despite Nico's assurances, there was no way they were going to make it to class on time that morning.

A tardy slip, though, was nothing compared to what they'd gone through last month.

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to my girlfriend and ThatGayFriend for beta reading this story for me. They help to make this story more interesting and coherent for you guys XD


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